Publisher’s Note: A similar letter or email from members of your Congressional delegation to the White House staff would be very helpful.

DEA Is Creating a Black Market Which Will Finance Organized Crime and Terrorist Groups

At the end of this month, September 30, 2016, the DEA will create a black market as a result of its ban of kratom. The ban will go into effect on October 1 unless it is modified prior to that date.

The effective date of the ban should be extended from October 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017 in order to allow the public to comment on the proposed ban.

As of this date the DEA has refused to accept comments from the public. The public has expressed its opposition to the ban by submitting a petition to the White House signed by more than 100,000 citizens.

The DEA ban of kratom will result in the establishment of a significant black market; background on the creation of the black market is contained in this post.

The White House should instruct DEA to extend the effective date of the proposed ban as noted above; once the ban is in effect generally it can only be modified as a result of a lengthy notice and comment process.

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi. I believe extending the ban until July, 1 2017 is a very reasonable request. In that time allow science, law and sound reasoning to speak for itself. I am hoping you will be successful. Thank you again.

Thank you Mr. Tozzi for your hard work in bringing this important issue to light. The DEA is acting unethically in their unilateral decision to ban this plant, and the effect will be devastating to countless Americans. Those of us who use kratom and/or are in support of keeping it legal are not asking for anything outlandish; we simply want the scheduling process to be followed normally and enough time given to properly evaluate the medical benefits and any possible risks that this plant possesses. One of the chants heard at the White House this past Tuesday was “Due process!” That is what we are asking for. This emergency scheduling is unnecessary and the metrics used by the DEA to justify it are either highly exaggerated or taken out of context. The DEA should not be allowed to proceed with this emergency scheduling and should possibly be further investigated regarding its motives for attempting to push this through without oversight or public comment.

Thank you for your eloquence regarding this very important issue. I might add that most, if not all Kratom users and supporters would not oppose regulation to insure purity and establish a legal age, with an exception of minors who could use Kratom to combat opioid addiction.

I am concerned this ban and subsequent black market would lead to increased adulterated and dangerous extracts of the chemicals of concern to the DEA showing up in America. This could lead to similar harm as the ‘Krypton’ substance referenced in the Notice of Intent to Schedule.

If the worry is people abusing it and dying then the DEA would have to ban aspirin, Alcohol, Tobacco, acetaminaphen, ibuprofen, hydrocodone, Valium, lisinipril….etc. This isn’t about anyone’s health. It’s strictly about money and job status. Without the drugs to go after, they have no job. The DEA has become an entity that feeds it’s own interest and that must be stopped. Making Kratom illegal would be akin to making coffee illegal. It’s idiotic. The war on drugs has been a failure and this will not help it. Half the United States has made cannabis legal in some form, proving that they don’t find it harmful as this agency has pretended. Now they want to do the same with a plant in the coffee family. The DEA needs to lose any and all authority over choosing what constitutes dangerous or illegal. It may be passed time for them to be over and done.

Lisa Porter,
I agree with you wholeheartedly; I have been thinking the exact same things and you have said it well.
I already know medical doctors who fear the DEA – *not* because they are doing something illegal but because it might *appear* that they’re *possibly* over-prescribing controlled substances and if so, *all* their records will be seized and scrutinized.

While there should always be guidelines and a checks and balances system for any professional, nobody , professional or not, should fear a government agency’s control.
I have wondered for years why pain management is not left between a doctor and his or her patients.
It’s almost as the DEA is comparable to a power-hungry dictator or monarch who decides “off with their heads” if it suits them.

I absolutely agree. The DEA is not creating laws to protect us but constrict us and create an artificial need for them. An Artificial job market for enforcement officers. There are far more important things they need to be concerned about other than sick people who want to drink some harmless tea. Really, I need to be imprisoned because I drink a tea that helps me deal with my decades long fight with chronic pain. Well I guess if the government wants to imprison me I guess they can pay for my medical bills.

From a policy perspective, Congress, the President and (if necessary) the courts need to revisit scheduling powers. An enforcement arm of the executive branch has no business making laws that they themselves will be budgeted to enforce — an awful conflict of interest that not only harms law-abiding citizen, but unfairly taints the DEA’s mission.

Citizens should be confident that the DEA is performing its duties honorably and transparently. Having scheduling AND enforcement powers casts doubt on everything they do. It feeds the (perhaps unfair?) perception of the DEA as a standing army both making laws and enforcing laws with little to no oversight. This is not how our government is supposed to work.

1) Delay this action to allow for due process.
2) Immediately revisit scheduling powers and restore transparency and SCIENCE to the process.

Thank you for this letter. Kratom has literally saved my life and I’m truly scared for my life right now as a chronically ill person. I had tried everything under the sun and was bedridden by 30. Kratom gave me the ability to walk again. Now, I’m facing life in a wheelchair. I’m afraid to buy kratom off the streets but I may consider it as the life I will have to live without it isn’t much of living at all. Besides that my only option would be fleeing the country and as sick person with little means as I barely worked in the last two years I’m not sure how I’d even begin to manage moving to another country but I can honestly say I’m better off dead than alive if I have to return to being bound.

How can they claim it has no medical value, I’m walking proof right here anyone can request my records and see.

Long story, super short, I’m a young mother of three, with a solid education and contributor to my community. I’ve been diagnosed with depression, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, herniated discs, rheumatoid arthritis caused by severe psoriasis, etc. I’ve done physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic therapy, massage therapy, prescription drugs, prescription pain killers, etc, and nothing was helping or made me feel horrible mentally. I discovered kratom 2 years ago and it saved my life, it gave my kids their energetic, active, loving mommy back. No longer confined to a bed, able to work, able to feel so much less pain and not feel in a constant daze from meds. Kratom saves lives. So many parents, children, professionals, families, businesses, farmers lives will be destroyed if you carry out this ban. Please stop.

I have been using kratom for about 5 years now and am in better condition (mentally & physically) than before. I used this benign, natural leaf to help me with chronic knee pain so I could avoid surgery and remain a productive member of society.

I was introduced to kratom by a friend who used it to help with painful stomach issues. His father who suffers from Chron’s disease also has started taking kratom. They both say it has literally transformed their lives, almost overnight! My knee pain (bone on bone arthritis) is now tolerable and I am able to continue working as normal.

Where are although the politicians who like to babble on about “freedom, liberty, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, etc”? Just hollow nonsense when a government agency with no valid reason can just unilaterally declare an herb which has helped millions live normal, productive lives illegal without ANY OVERSIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

America is no longer of the people, by the people, and for the people! We need to take it back!!

Gene, I have been saying that for years now! People laugh at me or speak to me as if I am feeble-minded and haven’t realized things have changrd!
Of course they have changed! That is the problem! It is our country and is *supposed* to be built on fairness. As you said, the government is supposed to work for us all- not simply dictate what we should and shouldn’t do, have, or be.

My question is are they (the DEA, the president, congress) aware of your letter and can we make them act?

I have printed out the CRE’s letter to the DEA and my own story about kratom and Restless Legs and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and emailed and snail-mailed both to both my Senators and my Representative, as well as Assistant Secretary of Health Karen DeSalvo.

I am commenting on every kratom story I can find online. I have written to newspapers and news agencies. I have signed all the petitions there are to sign. Does the CRE have regulatory authority?

Since you outlined so clearly in your letter how the DEA is so obviously violating the Data Quality Act, putting in peril the United States’ treaty relationship with Canada, and blatantly ignoring published science by other federal agencies (the USDA and the National Institutes of Health), by some act can we force the DEA on this?

I second this statement by Laura:
“Since you outlined so clearly in your letter how the DEA is so obviously violating the Data Quality Act, putting in peril the United States’ treaty relationship with Canada, and blatantly ignoring published science by other federal agencies (the USDA and the National Institutes of Health), by some act can we force the DEA on this?
Thank you for any insight you can provide to my questions.”

I am trying to remain patient, but the DEA deadline is in exactly two weeks. Two Fridays from today tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of good people will be vulnerable, scared, and in pain. This is infuriating, and I feel as if there must be some legal recourse other than writing all these letters and making all these phone calls. There will be irreparable harm done by an agency that, within the past 24 ours, admitted that their statistics were fudged and that perhaps they were wrong about this plant. Yet, smugly, they still want to criminalize people because, well, “it’s the safest thing to do.” Safest for what? The DEA’s reputation? Budget?

If there were a fundraiser to gather a class action lawsuit in this case, I think someone could raise millions of dollars very quickly.

Thank you for the opportunity to bring awareness of this plant that has obviously helped many. I myself suffer from autoimmune diseases that have no cure! I do not expect anything from anyone! I suffered for years, even with following Drs orders and being compliant. They as a medical team are perplexed and not sure what to do for fibromyalgia patients. Besides classify us as drug seekers! I am not anything but a law abiding citizen who has done nothing but try and find my own ways of combating the fatigue, pain, and overall condemnation on the subject of chronic pain. This very month is suicide awareness and chronic pain awareness. Yet here we fighting to keep a plant off of schedule 1, by the end of this month! Therefore if this ban happens I will be back to non existing person I was before finding a plant to help my symptoms and quality of life. I would previously kept quite about all of this. But I am fed up with being shamed for something I did not ask for (disease). I am human and I do have a voice if not for me then for my family that has passed and my children who have my genetic diseases. Please help in research and peoples experience eith this natural plant.

I have Fibromyalgia Syndrome also, and the constant pain and fatigue is debilitating. I share your struggle.
In addition I have a serious detangement of my spine.

Opiate/opioid pain medicine is severely limited now.
I don’t agree with how severe the limitations are. However, I have found the use of this plant Kratom to be a healthy alternative, with, by the way, fewer side affects.

Why anyone would ban it is beyond me! But the DEA as an enforcement agency has no business deciding what is a dangerous or useless vs useful substance!

I agree 100%. One month of warning with no official public comment period is not enough time to properly investigate this, and a lot of people are going to get hurt as a result. What will likely happen is vendors will move to Canada and ship into the US anyway or smuggle it across the border, while many people who can’t get access will return to street drugs.

The black market feeds money to terrorist and criminal organizations. Why indirectly increase the funding to these life threatening criminal/terrorist organizations? Kratom does not cause any harm to consumers. Please regulate Kratom and tax it, and prevent these illegal organizations from obtaining more money and power. It’s a matter of maintaining public safety and homeland security. Also, please show some compassion to the hundreds of thousands of law abiding citizens who greatly benefit from this plant.

Thank you for acknowledging the DEA for their over reach in this matter. It is very suspicious to me that they are conducting this without public comment or factual information. All of the statistic they are providing are skewed to make it seem as though kratom is dangerous, when in fact it is the a very safe alternative to harmful drugs and pharmaceuticals. Why are they so eager to ban this? There have been zero proven deaths with kratom ALONE as the responsible agent. The 15 deaths that they are claiming all had other harmful and strong drugs in their system. And this kratom plant has been around for thousands of years being used for therapeutic reasons in the Eastern part of the world. Please stop them from carrying out their plan, which is a blatant over reach and takes no account of our constitutional rights.

Mr Tozzi, thank you. I agree 100%. And the arbitrary scheduling laws need to be looked at also. How does an enforcement agency get to pick and choose what they want to enforce next.. To justify their existence ?? Things need to change!! And kratom NEEDS to be kept accessible!!

I’m with you there Chris Romoser and Nancy Sawyer.
I have written to my Representative, , my Senators and to Ms De Salvo, the Assitant Secretary of Health.

There should much more time given for researching Kratom. Besides that, it is a plant, an herb. How different is it from coffee, ginseng, or kava .. And for that matter,Kratom is a lot less dangerous than overdoing acetaminophen, or caffeine and definitely less harmful than cigarettes.
Most adult human beings are responsible people. I have thought for years that we need to stop controlling everything to the point where we ate treated like children- young children at that.

I’m in agreement that our experiences need to not only be heard, but part of weighing in on any decisions on Kratom.

Thank you Mr Tozzi, this proposed ban happened so suddenly that it has motivated us into “battle mode” which can be seen on all the social networks and witnessed by several rallies, particularly in DC. When things are done in haste and secret as this ban is, it raises many questions regarding motive, authenticity and who is behind it as much as who will it benefit.
I still believe our system is a good one, one tat looks out for its citizens but this action has cast a dark shadow over the DEA & the FDA as well as Big Pharma. Countless testimonies have been shared showing the benefits of kratom and proving that no one has had any ill effects from it. I for one, even have my Drs approval for taking it although I am sure he would not admit that now.
I sincerely hope your letter does not fall on deaf ears and we receive a response or at the least an acknowledgment soon. Thank you for your efforts on the behalf of the kratom communit, G-D bless you, #IAmKratom

My name is Nathan Nacey. I am part of a group of people who benefits from Kratom on a daily basis. 5 years ago I was diagnosed with a torn annular fiber in my lumbar vertebrae as well as degenerative disc disease, sacroiliac dysfunction and a list of other problems that cause me to live with chronic pain every day of my life. The doctors were reluctant to do surgery because I am young (37 years old). They did what they could to help me but ultimately prescribed me narcotics to take on a daily basis. I slowly became addicted to pain pills over the course of 3 years. The doctors kept upping my dose but it really was not helping. I had tried everything to deal with the pain; I tried chiropractors, physical therapy and was having frequent lumbar epidural injections. The future really was not as bright as it once was for me.

I asked a friend for advice and they suggested trying Kratom. I studied up about the plant itself and gave it a try. Today I am mostly pain free and am not having to get injections in my spine anymore. I do not have to go to the pain management doctor every month either. I am a valued employee at my job (insurance specialist) and I also have a small successful art business that I run on the side. My wife is happier and my pain is greatly reduced. The pain is not entirely gone as Kratom didn’t “heal” the underlying medical condition but it is much more effective as a painkiller and does not give me the “high” groggy feeling that prescription pills had given me. I truly do not understand how people can compare Kratom and Heroin or any other dangerous drug. I use it safely to deal with my chronic pain condition. I take it in the morning along with my morning coffee and it actually gives me a little bit of energy and it allows me to work. It actually allows me to work without being in a “haze” as I used to be with the medication I was being prescribed. I truly hope that people listen to the thousands of people who benefit from this plant.

How can an agency make law outside of the legislature. Can they ban kratom without the people’s consent? This leaf (kratom) helps so many average citizens, and has no business being banned without legitimate study of all those involved, including the general public who elect our officials.

Thank you so much. It truly breaks my heart because so many people are going to go back to drugs, pills or alcohol. It will create many new addicts for young, adult to elderly that will now turn to harsh prescription medication/drugs. I used to suffer from severe depression that made me suicidal. I no long suffer from that because of Kratom and I now have a loving husband and beautiful 11 month old son who is the center of my world. I fear for my life after the ban. I’m afraid they will lose the vibrant and happy mother and wife they have now. I can only pray every night that I, and the millions of people who rely on Kratom, will be okay….

Mr Tozzi, I can’t understand why the DEA wants to ban Kratom. I personal have not tried it therefore I have had no need for it, but working for a business that carries Kratom I have heard a lot of positive things about it. I had a customer whom had back surgery that could tolerate hydrocodone and the effect it had on his liver so he turned to Kratom to deal with his pain which he said worked better then this hydrocodone prescription he had. I had another customer the would use it for energy which got her through the day. I think there is good on the natural healing plant which does not effect our organs. I’m against the Kratom ban.

My name is April Smith and I am a Certified Medical Assistant. I am expressing my opinions regarding the DEAs decision to classify Kratom as a Schedule I drug. I take kratom daily to help with several health issues and my life would be negatively affected if this happened. I am 30 years old and developed arthritis in my back in my early 20s. Because of this I developed an addiction to prescription pain pills. My life revolved around them and I could not stop no matter how hard I tried. Because of this I Put myself into a methadone matienence program. The $400 monthly out of pocket cost for the program quickly became too much of a financial burden for my husband and myself to handle with 2 small children to care for. In addition to the financial costs, I was having nasty side effects from consuming such a large quantity of methadone daily. I detoxed out of the program, and even doing a taper the withdrawal symptoms left me unable to function. I came to close to relapsing back to my prescription pain pills from my back pain reemerging and the crippling withdrawal symptoms. After a desperate Google search I became educated on kratom. I can't begin to describe to you how amazing that day . The plant as like a beacon of light to me in an entirely dark world. It took away my withdrawal symptoms and by back no longer hurt! This is something narcotic pain pills had only been able to do in the . There at also no side effects like with prescription drugs. The cost is something my family can afford. True kratom does not give a "buzz" or a "high" feeling. The most Ive ever felt from kratom is a coffee like burst of energy and improved mood because my pain is gone. I have also suffered from depression and anxiety since my teenage years. I had been on strong medications to treat this off and on throughout the years, also with side effects. Since finding kratom I have not had to resort back to those medications. In addition to kratom's pain relieving properties, it significantly improved my anxiety and depression. I do take kratom daily, bc I the dramatic improvement on my life it has made. With kratom I have been able to discontinue several strong medications with known side effects, including death in certain cases, with a natural alternative that has no side effects. I am an educated person. I graduated magna cum laude and have a degree in Medical assisting. I have obtained certifications in Medical Coding and Billing, EKG, and Phlebotomy. I can hold a job now, and be a functional memeber of society. In getting up and gling to worm daily. Something I was not able to do before. Im going to be honest. Im scared. I'm scared that if the DEA follows through with there intent to classify Kratom as a Schedule 1 I will have to return to use of prescription pain pills again. I dont want to live that addict lifestyle anymore. I am on a good path, and I am happy. There are hundreds of thousands of I the testimonies out there just like mine. Please don't take our right away to choose a natural alternative to prescription medications. Kratom has made such a significant improvement in our lives. Please, please don't take this away from us. Your not just taking out plant away, if some cases your taking our jobs, our families, or our ability to get out and function. Your taking our freedom away by removing our access to Kratom. Please reconsider. Thank you.

Beautifully written. In America we are promised Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I have been ill with autoimmune disease all my adulthood. I have seen many medical specialists and have compliantly taken every medication given to me. Each one coming with side effects that made my disease harder to live with. I am in so much daily pain that I can not imagine what my life will be like if this ban on Kratom succeeds. Kratom allows me to get a good nights sleep. Before finding Kratom I had insomnia for 18 years due to the constant pain. Lack of restorative sleep makes my life a living hell. It increases my pain and decreases my ability to heal and deal with daily responsibilities. Finding Kratom has given me hope that i can live a productive life. Without Kratom I will have no quality of Life. I will have no Liberty as I will be further home-bound and unable to do the things I love. And I will be unable to Pursue the things that add to my Happiness to my life. Please allow me the American promise of Freedom. Freedom from my constant chronic pain, and Freedom to be the person I was meant to be without the pain.

April Smith… I love what you said but girl all the PARM wants is their money.. I truly hope that they look at the evidence and see there is no O. D’s on Kratom and it really helps alot of ppl get out of addiction and pain meds that harm and damage the body far worse then anyone is told when they are given the script… I also have severve pain and depression among other mental health illnesses, Kratom and espresso shots help me get through the day and it takes away my worse pain which is siatica which is in both hips and very painful. I am bedridded if I don’t have kratom, edibles and espresso. The thing is I hope someone that is in a position of power does not try to capitalize on this very unique herb. I pray that the powers that be shine light on this much more organic way to help, love and guide it’s country, community and people to a healthier state of mind. Addiction effects ALL… Let the ones who can change it have a hert to help

We must not let the DEA force this ban on us. Kratom is a simple leaf that some of use for simple stress reduction and the benefits are substantial. Our voices must be heard unless the DEA has some kind of authoritarian power over the public.

Thank you Mr Tozzi! Please keep moving forward with your agency’s valiant efforts on behalf of the chronically ill and chronic pain suffers who have been given their lives back by the power of kratom. The ban will not hurt the drug addicts and party kids the DEA thinks are using kratom to get “high”. Those people will get high however they can and break laws however they want to. The ban only hurts law-abiding, tax-paying, hardworking Americans like myself who suffer from chronic pain and do not want the choice to be between suffering in agony, destroying our livers and our lives with opiates that make us feel like zombies, or becoming felons and illegal drug users at risk of being dragged away from our beloved children in handcuffs. Please don’t let my choices be narrowed down to those. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke cigarettes. I go to church on Sunday, volunteer in the church nursery and my children’s school, vote in every election and do my best to be a good person, a good American and a good Christian. Please don’t make me into a dead eyed opiate addict, a bedridden pain sufferer or a kratom using felon. I deserve better than that, as do many others like me who are helped by kratom. Thank you.

I have never broken the law (other than a couple of speeding tickets when I was a teenager), I have never used illegal drugs, and I have no interest in using addictive pharmaceutical pain medications to treat my health problems. Alcohol is legal, addicting pain medications are legal, but a mild herbal treatment like kratom is being considered for SCHEDULE 1???? If this takes place on Oct. 1st, I will have forever lost my trust that the government (especially the DEA, who I once had respect for) truly has the best intentions of protecting the American people.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/15/the-dea-wants-to-ban-another-plant-researchers-say-the-plan-is-insane/ <— even the DEA themselves don't agree with this proposed ruling. This shows conflict even within the DEA. The proposed ruling is not something that employees in the DEA agree with! Patterson has told us on the phone that even his co-workers are dumbfounded by the plan to make Mitragyna speciosa a Schedule I substance (because they have never seen a problem with it and some never heard of it before). Keep in mind that DEA removed "kratom" from the Drugs of Concern list a few years back. Someone wanted to ban this plant without people noticing! That didn't work, yet the DEA somehow pretends that this has to be temporarily placed in Schedule I since it's such an "imminent health hazard" ?!?

What’s more frightening than losing the ability to take a plant that has literally helped me overcome alcohol dependency and deal with debilitating depression, is the fact that my government – the government I pay taxes to and support through good and bad – is about to treat me like a felon and to add insult to injury, is not allowing me to even COMMENT or CONTRIBUTE to the discussion/decision making process. Like I’m a helpless child too ignorant to make informed decisions about my own health and well being, while Big Brother orders me to do what he thinks is best. It’s damned absurd, insulting and makes me boiling angry. This isn’t communist China or North Korea – this is America. Shame on you for this preposterous, ignorant action, vested-interest funded action. And you wonder why people are cynical about the ‘American dream’?

Please stop the DEA from banning the beneficial plant know as kratom that so many people use as replacement for pharmaceuticals, and street drugs. I am bi-polar and use it for depression, PTSD,
FIbro, CFS, anxiety and insomnia. I do not want to take the 14 harmful and expensive drugs I was put on by doctors. It is a natural plant with vey little if any side effects. I want the right to choose what I put in my body.

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi. The “evidence” the DEA has been highlighting as reason for this “emergency” ban is ridiculous. 660 calls in a 5 YEAR period, while over 6,000 calls have come in over a 6 MONTH period because children are eating laundry soap? 30 (THIRTY) deaths, WORLDWIDE, EVER, with ALL attributed to substances OTHER than Kratom, while 60 people PER DAY die due to drugs in our country alone? What about the fact that patents are held in anticipation of the drug companies using Kratom’s properties? If it’s an imminent danger to the public, WHY do these patents exist??? The fact is that the DEA simply wants control. They want to take away pain killing drugs. They want to take away Kratom. And they want to take away Marijuana. What’s left?? When their families…wives, husbands, children… are injured in a car wreck, have major surgery, or are permanently damaged by war….how will they cope when there are NO OPTIONS left for pain control but Tylenol? Oh, wait….THEY will somehow be exempt from all these restrictions and bans, right? Put yourselves in the shoes of the millions of people in America who suffer from chronic, never ending pain, DEA members. What if it were YOU and you had NO WAY to control your own pain? Couldn’t walk? Couldn’t function? We are not criminals.

Mr. Tozzi,
I’m a 57 year old woman and I’d like to voice my concern & opposition regarding the DEA’s misinformed decision to make Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa) a Schedule I drug (this is the same class as heroin, crack, cocaine, LSD, etc!!). Most importantly, please understand that kratom is an herbal remedy and not a drug. It’s as much of a drug as Coffee, Kava Kava, Valerian Root & countless other herbal supplements that help combat anxiety, fatigue, insomnia with the difference being that Kratom can single-handedly soothe all 3 of those common factors in our daily lives.
I have been using Kratom for over 6 months to help alleviate fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease and pain from herniated discs in neck and low back, as well as promoting a subtle sense of well-being. Many responsible adults rely on kratom as a mild life-enhancing herb no different from those who rely on their Coffee, Chamomile or any other herb that has been used for thousands of years without negative impact upon society.
Kratom should remain legal and available for responsible adults like myself and my fiancé who live more productive lives thanks to this mild herb that has been used safely for thousands of years. It is widely understood by the community & an ever-growing array of media outlets that kratom has received undue scrutiny by those that see kratom as a means to lose revenue or worse.
This ban is absolutely not in the best interest of the public, there are over 100,000 signatures on the white house petition in less than 10 days. The people do not support this outdated and quite frankly draconian approach to an herb that has been in our society (the U.S.) for at least 10 years w/out much incident. We are relying on our lawmakers to listen and speak up for the people and we remain hopeful that you will consider a reasonable outcome to the kratom situation such as an 18+ age restriction (which we completely support). Please, help restore the faith of the people in our lawmakers and do the right thing by us.
The ban of this benign plant (especially while alcohol, tobacco, etc are available) would be bad news for all responsible adults and for purveyors of personal choice, freedom & liberty…the very fabric from which this land was sewn!
The following are pertinent facts for your consideration:
● Kratom is a plant, NOT a synthetic chemical or “Street Drug”. ● Kratom is in the same family as the coffee tree (Rubiaceae). ● Kratom is no more habit forming than coffee see recent article by the cato institute, http://www.cato.org/blog/addiction-problem-case-kartom ● Kratom has been safely used for thousands of years. ● No one has ever died from taking Kratom alone (any deaths were from several drug combinations or pre-existing health conditions). ● It is impossible to overdose on Kratom (one would simply become nauseous). ● Tens of thousands of Americans (Responsible, Adults) can attest to the beneficial properties of Kratom.
Furthermore, Kratom and its 30+ active alkaloids show tremendous dietary supplement potential. The legislation, as it currently reads, would place Kratom and its alkaloids in the most severe scheduling category, schedule I. Making this plant and its constituents schedule I, effectively makes it impossible for legitimate researchers to study Kratom which could benefit the lives of millions! This ban is not a sensible approach to regulating this plant.
A few more facts for you to consider when making your informed decision:
● The FDLE Report of Kratom: A review of available law enforcement and laboratory sources in Florida demonstrates that Kratom does not currently constitute a significant risk to the safety and welfare of Florida residents. According to the Florida Department of Health (DOH), no pervasive health issues have been attributed to the ingestion of Kratom products in Florida. ● According to the CDC, cigarette smoking causes 440,000 deaths in the United States every year; about one of every five deaths in this country are caused by cigarettes! ● Alcohol causes more than 1.2 million emergency room visits and 2.7 million physician office visits due to excessive drinking each year! ● Pharmaceutical drugs are one of the leading causes of death in this country, killing one American every 19 minutes! ● Prescription opiate pain killers account for more than 475,000 emergency room visits annually. ● Over the counter pain relievers such as Tylenol send over 56,000 people to the emergency room each year with liver related complications. ● The Mayo Clinic has reported a 28% increase in overall mortality in people who drink 4 cups of coffee per day.
Kratom is a safe herb in and of itself as well as in comparison to other plants (including coffee) and has changed my life for the better, so I’m asking you to please support us by voting AGAINST the Kratom Ban, keeping kratom legal for adults that are 18+. If you have questions about kratom, please visit http://www.americankratom.org.
Please do not make Kratom a Schedule 1 drug. By doing so you are turning hard working tax payers.. mothers… fathers.. Sons and daughters and grandparents into Felons when all they wanna do is be productive members of society!

Thank you for your time, consideration and service to the people of the U.S. who rely on your wisdom.
Sincerely,

I can only say thank you for your reply. I’m scared, really scared. This herb has saved my life. I have not wanted any narcotics, opiates and the like since I started using Kratom. I have led a perfectly normal life since and work hard. No need anymore to do the things I use to do to get my hands on narcotics. I’ve had no ill effects from this herb. No adverse reactions and am fully functional with Kratom. I scared because I’m a law abiding citizen that doesn’t want to go to prison which means I won’t have a choice anymore. I’ll have to stop for that fear. What are they doing? Don’t they bother to read all the testimonials about how this herb has changed people’s lives. Please God. Don’t let this happen. I’m doing all I can by signing every petition out there and contacting senators and congressmen. I don’t want to fall back into a life of addiction.

I have two bad discs in my back, a hip that needs to be replaced and fibromyalgia. Because of kratom, I now walk in the park four days a week, do tai chi and pilates almost every day. I’ve been in health care for 18 years and doctors only offer me ineffective pain meds or opiates. The opiates have never done more than scratch the surface and leave me still in pain. I work in pain. I can’t sleep because of the pain. I couldn’t stand at the sink long enough to do a load of dishes or hold my granddaughter unless I was sitting down. I lived in it. I was so sick from taking pharmaceuticals. I was either in bed with pain or in bed with side effects.

The very first time I took kratom, it eradicated every bit of my pain and I slept pain free for the first time in years. It doesn’t get me “high”. It allows me to move and has given me my life back. There is not one recorded death from kratom only overdose. It helps people become free of heroin and alcohol addictions. There is no public menace. This ban also negatively affects scientists from studying it. Please, repeal the DEA’s ban

Thank you for this. The rush to schedule kratom is not based on a true imminent public health issue and it will harm so many people like myself. I’ve been using kratom daily for nearly two years with zero adverse effects. I live in chronic pain from fluoroquinolone toxicity after I was prescribed a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. My joint and tendon pain made it nearly impossible to walk before I found kratom. I truly do not know what will happen to me and so many others if this ban takes place but I know it will be devastating to so many. I worry what will happen to all the people using kratom as a safe alternative to opiates and the recovering addicts who’ve been able to reclaim their lives. This is a nightmare.

First I’d like to thank Mr. Tozzi for his efforts on behalf of fighting this ban. As someone who was on an anti-depressant for years to combat my anxiety and depression, I find kratom to be much more effective and without the unwanted side effects. This is America, let us make our own choices about how we want to cope with our maladies. If anything, I feel as though kratom should be regulated and sold to those over 18 but putting it in a classification with something as utterly useless and damaging as heroin is a big mistake. It will hinder research and many will suffer. A black market will surely be another undesired outcome of this unwarranted ban

Mr. Tossi,
I would like you to postpone the decision from the DEA. I have know people who take Kratom for Joint pain so they can function. They have had no side effects, no addiction to it. They simply want to not have pain from arthritis and degenerative vertebra in their back. It does not take the pain all the way away it simply made it bearable to exist. Before Kratom my own mother had to go to a Pain Management Specialist who simply did painful procedures on her back gave her Rx for Percocet 10 and had her repeat every month. the procedures done on her back made her cry with pain every night. She quit going to him and tried herbal supplements that did not help. A family member told her about Kratom so she tried it and it has made her active again. She still gets back pain but not as severe. Please postpone any decision until you do the research on Kratom. It is not a drug like Heroin it is an herb that helps more than it could ever harm. Please do not cause my mom to be in tears again from pain. She is not a drug addict and even hates all drugs and alcohols.

Hello i have been on kratom for 12 years i had back surgery and got addicted to the pain pills (vicoden) i had no quality of life i was always looking for the next pill then i found kratom and all that changed i have a great life now i can play with my kids and I feel if this ban goes through you will see a increase of people who used this to stop heroin go back to it and then you will see a increase of overdoses as well as moms dads grandparents suffering from this ban and suicide rates will go up please reconsider this ban until more research can be done i do not think the DEA realizes how bad the aftermath of this ban will be !!!

I am a 64 year old registered nurse who 15 years ago was attacked by one of her adult patients and taken down to the ground. I remained on the ground for the last 15 years my life has been a nightmare of drugs and therapies and more drugs and physical therapy and more drugs and two surgeries and more drugs and no help. I happened upon Kratom for months ago and for the first time in 15 years I’m getting my life back period I spent my life taking care of people saving lives and doing it with all of my heart and now my government is turning its back on me. These are my golden years so I’m supposed to be enjoying some quality of life if you take my Kratom away I will have no quality of life I will never go back to Pharmaceuticals

I found kratom early this year while looking for alternative pain treatments.I have had chronic pain most of my life stemming from an accident at 10 years old.Over the many years I have tried many medications for pain but nothing ever,ever has taken my pain away totally except for kratom and I function fine with it,no brain fog like from drugs…these last few months have found me gardening again.I think at the very least an extension is in order,actually I believe the DEA should have to go thru the whole thing all over again with letter of intent and then follow the normal protocol.

I am a Veteran who takes Kratom for many reasons, including chronic pain. As a Veteran, I froze my butt off on a missile site in South Korea. I decided to serve my country because I believe in freedom (or thought I did). The DEA are lying to the American people. Keep Kratom legal so people like me, a rational being can make my choice.

I only have a few friends left and I’d like to keep it that way. Over the years we have stopped using opiates and alcohol due to will power AND Kratom. I, for one, think that I trust myself enough to say I’m done with that, but I’d like to make that decision, not the DEA. People are going to die….and I feel so helpless to stop it. I have never been so disappointed in the government as I am right now. That’s saying a lot. Please listen to these people’s stories. This is NOT the answer!

I was at one time so addicted to prescription pain medication that I ended up stealing from a pharmacy and went to jail due to my addiction. When I found Kratom I have had no need for pain medication at all. I even had ACL reconstruction surgery without needing pain medication. It has given myself and my wife who suffers from fibromyalgia our lives back. I am able to run and play with my children which was something I didn’t think possible before this.

I’m a 39 year old mother. I suffer from endometriosis and a genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome hypermobility type. The combo of these two conditions causes me debilitating pain and fatigue that leaves me bound to my bed most of the day. Three years ago I had to leave my job because the pain became so severe. My doctors tried many medications on me and I ended up on a combo of medications (tramadol, Norco, oxy, gabapentin) that caused my health to spiral out of control. At first it was so helpful but over time I became ill, unable to eat, my pain became more severe and I started spending most of my time in bed from fatigue. I wanted to stop my medications because I knew they had to be contributing to my deteriorating health but I found myself getting sick from withdrawals every time I skipped a dose. I have a child and could not care for her and withdraw. After reading about Kratom online and researching it for months, I decided to see if it really could help me get off my opioid medications. It worked. I’m 100% drug free and my pain has gone down so much, my hair stopped falling out, I’m able to eat again, I’ve gained some weight back and my body is slowly recovering. An added benefit I found is that kratom helps me immensely with pain control, anxiety relief and energy. My pain leaves me completely wiped out but Kratom helps me function like a normal person. I was excitedly planning my life again after finding kratom. I thought I’d even be able to work again once my health improves, something that only months ago seemed impossible, but that isn’t going to happen without kratom. I cannot go back on opioids due to the side effects and health consequences. I was afraid I was going to die in my sleep on them.
I now use kratom to get me through my bad days and I only use it a few times a week. It doesn’t give me any kind of high, the only euphoria I feel from using kratom is happiness from being able to get out of bed, being able to function, play with my daughter, cook and clean my house. It’s the joy I get from having the ability to do all of the little things in life that healthy people take for granted. Kratom has changed my life and my family’s lives in such a short time, my child has her mom back. My husband has a partner again. My house is finally clean! We want to keep this.

I believe the DEA’s intent to make Kratom a Schedule 1 drug is an obvious overreach on the part of the DEA. There has been no evidence that merits classifying Kratom as a dangerous drug. Please intervene on behalf of the American people& allow this miracle herb to be studied & regulated. I suffer from chronic pain & fatigue. I was diagnosed with Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy in 2006. I spent 8 years on pharmaceutical pain medications & my pain & weakness just kept getting worse & worse until I had no quality of life. Kratom saved me. The past year & a half with Kratom has completely turned my life around. I’ve done more in these months then I have in the previous 8 years. Kratom treats my pain without all the horrible side effects. If this becomes illegal Oct 1, I will end up in a nursing home. I’m 39 years old. I will never return to the horrible pharmaceutical cycle of more & more drugs again.

The scheduling of kratom will leave me with NOTHING to use for 18 years of daily chronic pain from fibromyalgia. I’m talking every single stinking day of my life! I took myself off of 12 years of opioid pain medications and switched to only kratom. This is a grave injustice. I can’t take otc NSAID’s due to stomach issues. Shall I just ball up in the corner and die? go on disability? People are being left with little choice. Please stop this humongous injustice.

Dear Mr. Tozzi – Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter. Please consider extending the proposed Kratom ban date from September 30, 2016 to July 1, 2017 in order to allow the public time to comment on this change that will adversely affect so many lives.

Hi my name is Jeff , I’m a 35-year-old farmer from central Illinois. I’m writing this letter in response to the dea’s scheduling that’s going to make kratom illegal nationwide. I’m pleading with you, please help us keep this lifesaving plant legal!!! It has helped me in so many ways. THANKFULLY I don’t have any stories about how I was addicted to heroin or any other prescription painkillers. BUT 10 years ago I was diagnosed as being a type 2 bipolar. Three months later when I was locked up in the psych ward I was diagnosed as having hyper anxiety on top of the type 2 bipolar. I’m not too sure the bipolar meds didn’t bring on the anxiety. I say that because for years I was on $1200 a month in “head” medicine. They had me on every single pill out there and for years they tried every combo of pills they could think of and with no avail. I was on four different medications at all times even the times I was locked up in the psych ward. I had a doctor tell me “some people just have to live with it”. And let’s not forget how I had to get my liver tested every other month due to the large volume of pills. When I asked the doctor he said “yes they was tearing my liver up but once again, it was something I was going to have to live with”. My life literally made me want to kill myself… Then I received a text from a friend saying nothing but “Google Kratom”. I did it right then and there and I liked what I read (back then everything online about kratom was positive before big pharm got into everybody’s pocketbook). Long story short I got some kratom two days later off the Internet. I immediately tried some and 15 minutes later every “head” problem I ever had vanished!!!!!!! The anxiety was gone, sadness disappeared and the overall feeling of a pending doom was gone as well. It was unbelievable!!! It’s been seven years since that day and I’ve never had any relapses, not even once. It’s crazy, the night and day difference in my whole lifestyle going from all the pills to a plant related to coffee. You’ll be happy to know that since then my blood pressure has dropped back down to normal and my liver test finally dropped back down to normal as well. And the best part? I turned into a happy, productive person which is something my parents and my kids haven’t seen in years. I believe Kratom’s positivity has not only been felt by me, but by them as well. So I’m pleading with you to please keep this plant legal because the only thing worse than what I’ve been through is going back to that mindset after being “happy” for so long…. please help us all!!!

If the ban on Kratom goes through it will leave me with severe depression and pain again. Before kratom I was unable to be the mom I wanted to be. I am now a wonderful mom thanks to this beautiful plant.

I am a 56 yr old grandma who lost a nephew to heroin. I began to do research on safe things to help people get off heroin. I found a natural leaf that is related to coffee called Kratom. I investigated it and decided to get some. I have sciatica and took some thinking well it probably won’t do anything for it. I had been suffering with sciatica for years and had been treated by my doctor with shots, pills and physical therapy. I just got use to the pain because nothing helped. About 20 minutes after taking the Kratom I found myself cleaning the house. No pain and a little cappuccino boost too! The DEA is over reaching by banning this simple leaf. You make a tea of it for God’s sake!!!! It taste terrible but it really is like coffee and helps with SO MANY things! Chronic pain people all over the world are using this to help. Why are we not allowed to use a natural leaf? DEA is wrong and I beg President Obama to stop this. I even tweeted him and his wife about this!

The DEA’s citation of Kratom being an imminent danger and public health threat is fully false. Their own citations of deaths and Poison Control calls show it is not an imminent danger. If anything, they are showing Kratom to be safer than the chemicals it is replacing. 15 deaths, none fully attributed to kratom alone, and just over 600 calls in 2 years are a drop in the bucket compared to opiates, other prescribed medications, even laundry detergent. This appears to be a “knee jerk” reaction based on misinformation and propaganda by a department that is tasked with enforcing laws, not making them. And to do so with no public comment or oversite is completely improper.

There were more citizens that attended the March in DC (on very short notice) than have EVER called Poison Control Centers in the US in a single year about kratom. Not that calls to a Poison Control Center should even be considered all that bad; anyone that tries something new and has a reaction they didn’t expect (I once had a niacin flush (vitamin b3) that was MUCH more uncomfortable than anything I’ve ever gotten from kratom; and over 3,000 people called Poison Control Centers in 2005 for niacin) would call as a strictly precautionary measure.

It’s insane to use an emergency power for something so innocuous, and even more insane to make something a FELONY when it poses zero danger to anyone besides the user (if you really believe that it’s dangerous to the user, contrary to the evidence)

It breaks my heart that Kratom is being somewhat demonized when it is truly a God-send, as many other herbs and foods are such a better alternative for our ailments instead of pharmaceuticals. I have an anaphylactic reaction to aspirin and nonsteroidal anti inflammatory meds, like Advil etc so if I have a headache or get injured I cant take get relief like most ppl can very easily. Opiate medications cause me nausea and severe depression and anxiety so they are not an option for me. The ONLY options I have are Kratom and coffee for a migraine. And it works. Making Kratom illegal is like making the coffee bean illegal. I feel so deeply for the ppl who use Kratom as their only relief. I DO NOTBELIEVE our government has a right to take away our alternative methods for relief and healing. It feels very SUSPECT that the pharmaceutical companies will benefit highly if Kratom is somehow demonized. WE THE PPL shld be able to make our own choices between pharmaceutical meds or alternative routes like herbs. Tumeric is an herb/sice that decreases inflammation. Are they going to outlaw Tumeric? Peppermint is good for heartburn instead of Zantac medication. Are they going to outlaw peppermint? I want my government to stay out of my choices for alternative herbal methods.

Thank you Mr. Tozzi, I appreciate your help so much. I’m like so many others here – kratom changed my life. 8 years ago leaving the house was a struggle for me. I suffer from terrible anxiety and depression, among other things. I’ve worked with a therapist and my doctor for years. Prescription drugs help, but daily kratom gives me my life back. I’m a better wife, mother and daughter. I work at a major university and I’m thriving. This simple leaf has done what nothing else could. I don’t want to imagine another way forward – I’ve already found the greatest remedy. I really feel this supplement should be a personal choice, not classified as some Schedule 1 poison. Not everyone drinks coffee, not everyone takes vitamins, lord knows we don’t all eat the same diet. And this is part of what makes America diverse and interesting. Please please please don’t force us to live without this plant!

This leaf has returned me to work full time. For two years I have struggled with horrible neck and shoulder pain. The pain medication I was taking was strong but the more you take them the less they work. I felt the addiction coming on and found Kratom . The change it has made in my life is a miracle. I get up drink a glass of tea and the pain melts away. Chronic pain is exhausting and Kratom has given me my life back. Please help delay this ban so research can be completed

I moved to another state and lost my insurance coverage. Kratom helped me withdraw from prescription opioid medication from chronic migraines due to adult strabismus and lower back pain. I’m astounded that anyone would want to ban an herbal supplement from the coffee plant that has been wonderful for my health and well being.

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi. Like many others, kratom gave me my life back. As a chronic pain sufferer, I ran out of options and could not get relief. Thanks to kratom, I now have my life back and my kids have their mom. I’m not against restricting access to kratom, but a ban would greatly affect my life in a negative way. Thank you for giving a voice of reason to the proposed ban.

Just my testimonial… I have been addicted to pain meds for 4 years. Kratom has helped me to be pill free for over a month now. That wouldn’t have been possible without it. To ban a naturally occurring plant that has/is helping so many is asinine.

Per the CRE’s open letter and previous post – the DEA are *absolutely* going to create a black market for kratom, and lord knows what substances those who seek it out will actually get. Even though it is currently unregulated – there are MANY legitimate vendors who only sell the pure crushed leaf and maintain quality control.

It would be fantastic if the DEA and/or whoever is controlling this ridiculous facade of “protecting” us from the scourge of a beneficial/harmless tea leaf would instead REGULATE it – keep it legal, but stop the idiots in headshops from trying to create “legal high” garbage and then still label it kratom (which it isn’t after it has been tampered with!). There are morons in any industry who only care about making a buck and not about people’s heath… Sadly it’s seeming like the DEA is vying to be their leader!

White House Staff – SOMEONE PLEASE LISTEN to facts instead of alarmist propaganda, even if it is being disseminated by one of your own authoritarian agencies. Make the DEA follow the laws including the Data Quality Act. Postpone the kratom ban since there is no data to support an imminent threat, and really…consider the possibility of a black market and stop it before it starts.

Hello Mr.Tozz,I want to personally thank you for looking into this mater.I discovered Kratom a year and half ago after realizing my tolerance was going up on my pain medication.I was born with a very large terra toma tumor and a lot of surgery was done at birth rebuilt pelvis,sawed off tailbone,hips are out of line.they told my parents I would never walk well I did but now I’m 58 and about 3 yrs ago the pain became unbearable as I had always had pain but not like thisI have seen a couple of the best neorsurgens in AZ and was told please don’t ever let anyone cut into you as you have severe nerve damage.My life on pain meds is terrible as I become forgetful and I need more and more.My grandson is with me a lot due to his mother being very sick with Lupus so I need to be alert take him to school and pick up.I was approved for disability in 3months and the Dr from Social Security you could have applied years ago .I waited until I was 55 as I was missing more work than usual .My boss of 24 yrs at the time told me I can tell you are in a lot of pain.Kratom takes away 80% of my pain and gives me a clearer head overall just a quality of life that everyone should be entitled to .My husband notices it first thing on the days I take Kratom as he said you don’t look all zoned out.Im a licensed Insurance Agent and I still go into work two mornings a week as some of the customers prefer me and I have to have Kratom for those two mornings as I can’t be taking narcotics at work.Thank you for listening to us and explain to the Dea that they really need to educate themselves of the wonderful plant.

& what does the black market lead to? Tainted drugs/herbs. This is why people are dying left & right from heroin mixed with fentanyl that they didn’t know was in it. If this creates a black market for kratom, god knows what it’ll be mixed with. They are CREATING this problem, not fixing it. Right now we use reputable vendors we’ve known for years. Never once do they mix other crap into their kratom. That’s why it’s safe, & doesn’t kill anybody. The CDC cited a newspaper article as their evidence. A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE! Super scientific. Kratom alone has killed zero people. Kratom alone has saved countless lives. This is insanity!

This is a supplement I have been using for over a year. I haven’t experienced any high from kratom.sI. The plant is part of the coffee family. I have experienced pain relief from osteoarthritis.
Thank you for your efforts to achieve a reasonable time frame for research to start.
This should not be banned.

My life took a turn for the worst 3 years ago. Due to dentist not extracting a tooth properly it let to me being hospitalized three times and two major surgeries due to an infection that set in my jaw bone. My final surgery was supoose to be reconstruction surgery, but once they got in to do the surgery they had found that the infection had set in so badly that it spread through the right side of my jaw bone. They had to remove so many pieces of my jaw bone to cut the infection out as much as possible or I could of died. This in return left me with a PIC IV in my arm for a year and major pain to go with it. Previously before they found the problem I was on pain killer after pain killer with so many bad side effects that I no longer wished to have my doctor prescribe them for me due to the side effects. I had taken Vicodin, fetinal patches and morphine. I struggled with the pain for almost 7 months before they finally found the issue. I am still awaiting reconstruction surgery and still have pain daily due to having very little bone in my right jaw to eat and talk. It makes my days rough. I started taking Kratom a year ago and I have started to live my life again. It took two years for this to take place due to the pain i deal with on a daily basis. I didn’t want to be on pain medication due to the toll it took on my life ans my families lives. I am a mother of three and the main provider of my household. Kratom has literaly changed my life. I have no side effects and I can function and not feel like I’m all doped up on pain medications. I feel that not only my daily way of making a living and others will be completely jeopardized and a lot of lives will be lost if this is banned. I take this daily and I’m now preparing myself for the long road ahead of it is banned. I can honestly say KRATOM has changed not only my life but the way my family and I get to live our lives. Pain is one thing that can destroy ones life and if you have family of can take the life out of them. I can’t understand why people want to take away something that is not harming, but helping the American citizen live pain free. I am a hard working American citizen with a college education that wants the same as every other citizen. To provide a great future for our children and love the American dream. The only difference is I’m one of millions who suffer from the daily struggle of PAIN. All I ask is get the facts on Kratom not all this nonsense going around that it’s like the worst drug on the streets that is killing so many people. Kratom is in no way shape or form like heroin and should not be out on a schedule 1. This is absolutely outrageous. They need to prove facts which they have not done before banning this plant due to lack of education.
Thank you for your time..

I am a 36 year old single mom of two young boys ( one of whom has autism.. I have medical issues that are debilitating (hidrenitis supporativa stage 3 D.D.D. with spinal stenosis, severe carpal tunnel In both hands,panic disorder, migraine headaches and Fibromyalgia to name a few) and struggle every day to make it through and take care of my children and home alone.. I have been on so many different medications that I could not possibly name them all . The medications would cause side effects that makes me feel worse than before and I honestly had given up hope of finding anything to make life manageable until I found Kratom.. I have gotten back to feeling well again and have been able to play with my children and garden and going out in public with out panic attacks.. I had hope again and then this.. They are taking away people’s hope they are taking away our ability to choose a natural form managing our ailments.Our quality of life!!! Please don’t let this happen

This is an all natural supplement that I as a medical professional choose to take for my chronic pain and anxiety and depression. Instead of pharmaceuticals that have caused such nasty side effects. I prefer not to take narcotic pain medication because i have personally seen what it has done to so many people. I have lost 2 sisters a brother and probably a quarter of my graduating class to drug overdoses as well as my best friend. I dont want to become like the ones ive loved and lost. This works ive have personally seen at least 14 people get off herion using this supplement and i know 12 of the 14 are still clean today. I have patients that are well over 65 years old who rely on this plant for thier chronic pain because either they cant take the narcotics but mainly due to family stealing it. Please dont take this plant from the hundreds of thousands of people who have thier life back without worry of becoming an addict. If anything regulate it and make it only available to users 18 and older but please dont ban it. Living off disability and hooked on opiates wont be a good use of anyones tax dollars thank you

Hello, I would like to discuss my story. I am not an opiate addict, nor have I ever been. Approximately five years ago, I was diagnosed with herniated C6/7 discs. My situation is not all bad however. The bulging is not bad enough to affect my mobility. However, I am in constant, incessant pain. I have a multitude of abnormal sensations that I have to deal with, including cold, numbness, out right pain, fire, lightning, etc, running all through the left side of my back, running through my neck, shoulder, down my arm and finally into my fingers. Roughly 2 years ago, I saw a friend talking about kratom on a social media web site. At the time, the work that I was involved with was DOT regulated, so Dr’s would not write me any scrips. I eventually started researching kratom, and finally decided to try it out. My initial purchase was from a local “head” shop…but eventually I found a couple social media groups and started purchasing plain leaf powder from their vetted vendors. I have been using kratom to help relieve my maladies for the past 1 1/2 years now. My injury will likely never heal. However, with kratom, I have found the natural ability and desire to face my day to day tasks, with minimal, and on rare occasion, NO pain. I have also found that kratom helps me personally with energy and focus during the day, and different strains that help me to relax and even sedate me at night. Please help me keep this natural plant legal. #iamkratom

Hello,I suffer with chronic pain. I have osteoarthritis,3 herniated disc’s in my lower back,arthritis in both knees,hips and both arms and hands. I am also a cancer survivor. I’ve been taking kratom for 2 years. Before kratom,I was prescribed very high doses of narcotic pain medication. With pain there als o comes depression,so I was on medication for that also. I was in bed most of the time because these medications made me very lethargic. My mother had to move in with me and my three children to help take care of them and myself.I was always tired and felt light headed. I found out about kratom in a chronic pain group. I ordered a sample. Well I only took a half teaspoon with some juice. Thirty minutes later I could feel my pain melting away. I could think clearly for the first time in a long while. This worked so much better than my meds and there was no weird feeling like with my meds. Its been two years with no medications and I’m even able to go to work now. I take care of my kids by myself. I am a hard working single mother that goes to church,volunteers at a women’s shelter. I am a loving mother and I just don’t want to go back to living in pure he’ll again. That’s what my life will be if kratom is banned.

I will never go back to pharmaceuticals! I have chronic lyme disease. I’ve been diagnosed with everything under the sun and have been on every medication you can think of. I found kratom three years ago, and got my life back. If you can’t see that this is a move by the DEA to help Big Pharma make more money, then you probably shouldn’t be in the White House. Please do not take away the only medicine that’s replaces hundreds without the toxic poisen and horrible side effects. If this ban goes in effect it will destroy Millions of lives. I will completely lose hope in our government And Country. Thank you.

Mr. Tozzi, it is no exaggeration that you are a hero in my book. I wrote of my kratom journey back to wellness on the previous thread, and I am a reading teacher with the incurable, painful condition of Chari Malformation. Like many others, I have been sick with flared up pain and symptoms since finding out about this ban over a week ago, but for now I have relief in the form of kratom and am able to continue teaching my students. To think that the government can just strip away our access to pure, natural, and safe botanical remedies without due process is terrifying.

I hope our President and Congress will hear our cries and and your logical argument and well-thought out guidelines. I want to hear our lawmakers step up to the plate to fight to stop this ban. Time is running out, and our leaders must take action on behalf of the citizens. It is clear from the peaceful protests, comments, and letters opposing the ban that citizens who manage pain, addiction, and other illnesses are upstanding, responsible citizens. Teachers, nurses, war veterans, firefighters, officers, lawyers, accountants, moms, elderly, corporate executives, entrepreneurs. All have touched my heart with their stories, and I hope that those in powerful positions are listening with a compassionate ear and will to intervene. Thank you CRE!

Mr. Tozzi I thank you for trying to get this stopped. I truly felt devastated on Aug 31st when I heard about the unconstitutional action of the DEA. I was honestly wondering if all the conspiracy theory’s id heard could maybe be true, I felt like id been relocated to a third world country.
But thanks to you, my faith is restored in my country….the DEA needs to respect the citizens of this country and allow us to choose what we wish not what were told. Im a witness to the harm Opiods can do, every day when I look @ the 100% disabled Army vet that im a caretaker of. Accidents that ive been in have seriously damaged my body and my mind is damaged by the accidents and other events I could function enough to get by but was getting bad enough that prescriptions were going to be necessary soon, but I found Kratom I feel no high, dont nod or zone out. I feel no side affects, no cramps, seizures, mental confusion or inability to focus. And best of all if I choose not to drink my Kratom tea the only thing I feel is the same pain I feel every day and maybe a headache, which a glass of water stops. Once again thank you sir

I want to thank you so much for looking into this issue and demanding answers!!! The DEA has over reached what their agency is supposed to do. Thank you for standing up for those of us who feel trampled upon by our own government!! Kratom has helped my fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis more than any pharmaceutical, and with many less problems!! If the DEA were truly concerned about “imminent danger”, then maybe they should be paying closer attention to the poison that the pharmaceutical companies are peddling!! All a person has to do is see a commercial for a medication, and they will see an almost endless litany of possible complications!! Yet, these drugs aren’t apparently causing any “imminent dangers” to American society. I ask that the DEA be required to back up their information with real facts, not loosely quoted information. I would also like to point out that it took a week, and only a week, to gather the 100,000 signatures needed for the “We The People” to be given to the President!! That speaks volumes!!! Again, I would like to thank you for speaking out for us regular tax paying Americans, who happen to use Kratom!!

THANK YOU Mr. Tozzi , from the bottom of my heart and with all I’ve got. Kratom saved my life. rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family. My depression is debilitating the degenerative disc in my neck and lower back are from years of standing at my job. please please keep up the good fight for us. I will have no quality of life without kratom. My 11 year old son will bear the brunt of this. His mommy will be gone, back to bed ridden. my husband can’t do it all. He works 10-hour days. We are in our 50s. We have never been arrested we are not drug addicts we are just normal people that found a plant that helps us live happy productive lives and we are able to help others around us.Thank you again.

I’m a 47 yr old high school teacher and mother of two. I’ve always been really active on my own and with my kids. As years went by my fatigue and widespread pain free until I barely got out of bed. I was diagnosed with osteo arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and Fibromyalgia. All of this on top of the IBS, displaced cervical discs, degenerated discs, TMJ Disorder, and migraines that I had been being diagnosed with since the 8th grade. We tried the Cymbalta, Lyrica, and gabapentin (Norco for only the worst of days). With each, I got worse instead of better. Within six months I had packed on 60lbs and could barely function through the basic necessities of daily living. I seriously gave thought to removing myself from this planet. I ran across someone who told me about Kratom for pain and fatigue. I researched it and eventually gave it a try. I was amazed at the pain relief, energy boost, anxiety relief, and mood boost that it gave me. I used it to take myself off of one pharmaceutical at a time. It took months and the withdrawals from Cymbalta, Lyrica, and Gabapentin were horrid. The only pharmaceuticals that I still use are Enbrel injections, muscle relaxers, and the very rare Norco. Kratom has given me my life back. I’m a functioning interactive mom and high school teacher again. I gain no “euphoria” or “high” with Kratom. There’s no intellectual muddiness, like with opiates or the antidepressants previously prescribed. The only side effect, if I take too much, is nausea. I switch strains each dose to keep my tolerance low, at 3-6 grams. I take it only when I have to, in order to be able to move. I still feel pain 24/7 but it’s tolerable most days and I gladly smile again. We MUST keep Kratom legal so that I can keep my life.

My name is John Paul Salovesh. I am 49 years old. I suffer from osteoarthritis, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain issues and neuropathy. I was diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder, migraines. I use kratom. I am kratom. Without kratom, my life would be a sliver of what it is today.

The upcoming ban on kratom is a failure. It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s a failure. A failure of due process, a failure of our democratic system. This is not the will of the people, it is the will of pharmaceutical companies, the will of lobbyists, the will of the uninformed.
Kratom is a natural substance. It is NOT a synthetic, it is not responsible for deaths. It has been in use for hundreds of years, by hundreds of thousands of people, without causing what the media has claimed. It is no more addictive than coffee, and by far, less addictive than tobacco.
Kratom has changed the lives of people that choose not to used harmful chemicals: People who choose to live more natural lives.
Prohibition of this plant will do many irreparable harm.
I use kratom, as an alternative to a plethora of pharma pills.
I used to take:
Dexedrine
Adderall
Xanax
Klonipin
Norco
Hydrocodone
Oxycontin
Trazadone
Celebrex
All of these medications have been replaced with ONE plant.
One plant.
One plant, that allows me to be a more productive member of our society.
One plant, that has freed me from the scores of pills I would take on a weekly basis.
The pills would cause side effects, that had to be managed with other pills, that would have side effects, that would make me adjust the dosage of other pills. That would cause more side effects. A vicious cycle, that would be repeated over and over again.
On September 30th, the medicine that works for me will become illegal, and I will be forced back into the arms of big pharma.
Please take action to stop this ban.
I, and thousands of people, your constituents, implore you.
Don’t believe the media hype that states there is no medicinal value to kratom.
There are thousands of people who are living proof that it does.
Listen to us, listen to our stories.
Don’t let the ban happen.
Regulate it, tax it, study it, but don’t outright ban it.
Thank you for your time.

This is a criminal justice issue. People have been taking this plant for decades in America. To immediately make this a schedule 1 drug without so much as a public forum is a hasty and unjust decision by the US government that directly impacts sensitive populations.

Thank you sir for hearing our plea. I’m an RN and not only am I a health care advocate, but also a consumer. I’ve spent 30 years of my life caring for others and as a result am in poor health because of it. I’ve had cervical fusion and am now awaiting a lumbar surgery. I have difficulty doing my job as it is and Kratom has given me more relief than I can say! I want my patients and myself to be able to make their own choice!! People can drink, smoke and eat themselves to death! Not to mention aborting a fetus. Please stop this ridiculous cycle of villifiey every thing! And yes.. Marijuana SHOULD be legal! These are all attempts by an antiqued system that needs to be justified!! HEAR THE PEOPLE!! Help us!! I’ve given my body and soul to the health care system as an operating room nurse!!! Allow all of us to reap the benefits of a natural plant that the Lord himself made!!! Stop this ridiculous injustice by the pharmaceutical companies that control all of our lives!! I implore you sir!! Thank you!!

I have Fibromyalgia have tried everything. I can’t take the conventional medications as I have had severe reactions to them. Cymbalta which is the most prescribed treatment caused Serotonin Syndrome which nearly took my life and antidepressants made me suicidal. At my worst I was bed bound and could not function. A friend introduced me to Kratom and I admit that I only use on my worst days and very sparingly but it has been a life safer when other treatments failed. I have also seen so many testimonies from people addicted to opiates which i thankfully have never experienced but it is working for them and saving lives. Please help keep Kratom legal so that those of with Chronic illnesses have hope and can continue with some semblance of a normal life.

This plant helps thousands and to not allow the thousands of people that consume it to be able to voice their opinions is terrible. I’m a third grade teacher. My life will be forever changed in a negative way without this plant and the idea that I’m not allowed to even voice an opinion is infuriating. This is terrible treatment of the citizens of America.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’re making a fools decision if you Schedule 1 kratom on September 30th. It’s not to late to change your mind. This plant in it’s whole form is a God send that helps so many people to live a better life. It’s harmless and has never killed anyone. There’s a opiate crisis in the US and kratom is the solution. Banning parts of this plant to maybe bring it back as a pharmacy pill in a couple years just to make money is bs. It’s the plant in a whole that makes it amazing. We Americans should have a choice. Everyone knows its not dangerous. It’s been around a long long time. Is coffee next? So many people would be hurt if you decide to ban it. I recommend you don’t do it.

Words can’t begin to express how thankful I am to see you fighting for us. You actually became educated and learned the potential Benefits of kratom before just blindly following the deas horrible over reaching advisement. For me personally kratom has almost given me back my quality of life that i had before becoming sick and having to live with chronic & debilitating pain and suffering. The not even the physical effects but the emotional toll it took on me was too great to keep going the way things were going. My strength, Kratom and God helped me step out of that bottomless pit of misery I used to call “life” .Kratom helped manage my pain and I didn’t have to depend on opiates everyday. Life long Opiate addiction always starts out on a prescription pad. I know just how much prescription pain medicine can ruin a perfectly beautiful life. One of my close family friends has been on various opiate pain medications. Started out on Vicodin 5mg every 4 hours And now she takes 30mg oxycodone every 4 hours. She like most people addicted to opiates , takes much more then prescribes because she is now physically and psychologically dependent upon medication that was meant to help and is now killing her with every dose. I refuse to ever become dependent on anything. I see how much addiction has destroyed her life, her marriage, and her career. Her health is 10 times worse then it was when she started her legal, yet lethal journey to nowhere. I respect out country, our lawmakers , our president and I would hope and believe you want what’s best for all citizens. Please just take a day and read the heartfelt letters & emails. If you still need more convincing, please Watch the videos of the community pouring their hearts out talking about the most vulnerable weakest parts of “life” before kratom. We are not addicts , we are not criminals or deplorable people. We are moms, dads, teachers, doctors, police officers, pastors , grand parents , lawyers, military heros, and #wearekratom

I like everyone else who has written and called don’t want to see Kratom as a schedule I drug. This plant is harmless and so helpful to so many thousands of people. I take Kratom for chronic pain. I have carpal tunnel in both hands, osteoarthritis, spinal neuropathy, pinched nerves in my neck and back, several bulging discs in my spine. I am in constant pain 24/7. Kratom has literally saved my life. When you live with constant pain you live with major depression also because of the pain. Kratom helps me deal with that pain much better than prescription pain meds ever did. I am 63 & do not want to take addictive pain meds any longer. This plant has helped so many people. We all finally have some hope of having a normal life with out drugs. Why would you take this away? I like many others believe this is about pharmaceutical companies losing out on selling their drugs. It’s about money. Why should I or anyone else have to go back to suffering again? Please stop this ban.

I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, spurs ,narrowing disk, bulging disk and 3 Cracks in my thoracic area if my back. My neck is just as bad. Lower lumbar has some spurring also and extreme pain in my legs to walk and feet. Thyroid issues and arthritis. I got my life back 3 months ago due to Kratom. IM off prescriptions ,hydro. Tramadol,Lyrica and nuerotin now,I’m not a foggy brained vombie, numb to caring or feeling nothing anymore. I’M back to being normal now. Please don’t take this from me or thousands of others. Thank you for your time

Thank you for this. I hope to God who ever reads this understands how much of a miracle this plant is. So many benefits, no way this should be banned and made a schedule I drug. That doesn’t even make sense. This plant has helped thousands of people improve their overall quality of life. Please stop this ridiculous ban, and let it be researched more.

Thank you Mr. Tozzi. The public absolutely should be allowed to comment on something that pertains to our well being! Kratom is why I’m here today! No melodrama, no overstating or reacting, just truth. The medications, crippling pain, and depression was literally killing me. I discovered Kratom 10 years ago and the afore mentioned was over, so I thought. Black market, probably. Suicides, surely. Overdosing on illicit/dangerous substances, definitely. The DEA has made a bed we’re given no choice but to lie in. Shame on them…

This plant literally replaced every single medication I was prescribed 4 years ago, which is MANY. I finally found my sober self, 4 years ago… But, that very same day I was prescribed 6 medications to take, that 11 pills a day to manage myself. Then add 2 extra pills a day to manage the pills I was already prescribed! I mean really… It was ridiculous. That’s 13 pills a day. The side effects from the medications I was required to take were horrible, I’ll do my best to describe it. I was a total zombie, they made me exhausted all the time, I had no feelings, I had no ambition to do anything at all, I gained 60 lbs, I became hypoglycemic, I could barely function. But Hey! At least I was sober right?! It was unacceptable, I couldn’t bare to live that way, I was miserable. I’ve tried to stop all the medicine without an alternative, and it wasn’t pretty. I’ve been off of these medications for 2 years now. For me personally this herb is an antidepressant, anti anxiety, antipsychotic, anti inflammatory, pain reliever. Exactly what my medications were for. There are many other uses for this plant besides all of that. It’s truly incredible.

I was born with rheumatoid arthritis, and as a result I have many physical and psychological problems. I spent the first 29 years of my life taking various pharmaceuticals, most of which left me feeling fuzzy and not able to think well, and none of which actually helped to a real extent. At the beginning of this year, I learned about kratom. I did a lot of research and I even talked about it with my doctor. After my doctor gave me the okay, I tried it. At first I thought it was a fluke, there was no way a plant was going to do what prescriptions couldn’t. I was wrong. After a week of taking kratom, I felt better. I stopped taking some of my prescriptions (with the guidance of my doctor), and o felt even better. I was clear headed, happy, I could sleep well and didn’t have any anxiety, and best of all I wasn’t in so much pain anymore. My RA symptoms started to wane, and the day that my doctor told me that he didn’t think I would need to start methotrexate was one of the happiest days of my life. All thanks to kratom. I don’t want anything spectacular, I just want to be able to live a decent life. I want to be able to work, and play with my nieces and nephews, to walk my dog, or have fun with my friends at the river, and make dinner for my family. Kratom gives the ability to do all of that and more. I don’t think a normal life is too much to ask for, do you?

The irony in all of this is that as of right now, there are literally NO victims. Nobody has died (and I guarantee as investigations continue, they will find out that every death “associated” with kratom was in no way directly connected to kratom itself).
After this ban, there will be a huge increase in prison and jail populations (unless that’s exactly what they’re gunning for: filling for-profit prisons with law-abiding citizens simply seeking relief), there will be a black market (that will encourage criminal activity and violence, as black markets do) and that will be a DIRECT result of the DEA’s actions.

The problem is that they don’t care. One has to assume that anyone of average intelligence understands that after this ban, kratom willl go from a simple, legal herbal supplement to the hub of criminal activity so perhaps this is the ultimate goal: Create the black market, create reason to prosecute otherwise law-abiding, productive citizens and damn the consequences.

It makes no sense to anyone looking for a reasonable response to why they would fabricate evidence about deaths and overdoses in order to justify banning a natural herb. Tricycles and peanuts cause more deaths in a year that kratom has in its thousands of years of history.

In acknowledging the basic facts, one has to assume that facts are not a concern in this whole situation, sadly.

I have lost quite a lot of respect for the DEA leadership. I’m certain the agents in the streets are unaware of what kind of nonsense is transpiring in the offices of their “brass” or what Kratom
even is, for that matter. Characterization of Kratom as a “dangerous street drug”, opioid or imminent public safety hazard speaks to one of four things:
1) Laziness-Not taking time or effort to present real and factual information.
2)Dishonesty-knowingly providing false and deceptive data or willfull omission of factual data.
3)Stupidity-Inability to identify truly harmful substances that have a negative impact on society.
4)All the above.
I’ve been drinking my Kratom tea for ten years. I drink it because it gives me mellow energy and helps with my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu injuries. I don’t party or drink alcohol. I’m a CEO of a multimillion dollar company and have lost patience with niceties. I’m being ignored. I expect more from this agency.

I’m a 48 yr old wife, mother to 7 and grand mother to 16.
I am a long time chronic pain sufferer. I have Lupus, spinal stenosis, severe degeneration of the spine and severe arthritis. I have been taking an opiod painkiller for about 9 years. I am very careful with my dosing and have been able to not have addiction issues. About a year ago I found Kratom in one of my FB groups. I was curious and did a lot of research into the product. I started taking it about 8 mo ago. The results are nothing short of miraculous. I was able to stop my pain meds, be an active part of my 16 grandchildren’s lives again, be a better mother and homemaker because it takes away my pain and has zero side effects like the opiates. I am not sleepy, groggy, fuzzy or any of those things, I can sleep more than 4 hours now and when I have run out of Kratom I had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. This product is helping millions of Americans like me. There are so many of us who want to be active in our own lives and not be on dangerous opiates. I don’t want to go back to watching my life pass me by because I am so incapacitated by pain and fatigue caused by my back and Lupus. my condition is only going to worsen. I want to continue to live a quality life while I can. if the DEA does this they are going to cause people like me to stop living our lives and return to lives controlled by pain or addiction to opiates.

Thank you for taking the time to discuss the negative effects this ban will have across the board. I know hundreds of people who’s lives have been saved by kratom. I also take kratom for my anxiety and pain associated with surgery. I have also heard that many will attemp to cross the border to Canada to seek kratom when this ban goes into effect. The fact the DEA calls it a public emergency just shows how uneducated they are and are not researching the facts. I have used it for 4 years and have had no side effects. It has worked better then the medications I was prescribed.
Kratom is a safe alternative and people should have the right to choose herbal remedies. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Please know. When this ban goes into effect it will be the cause for many many deaths that could have been prevented. #iamkratom

I suffer from DDD, herniated discs in my neck with bone spurs, dehydrated bulging discs in my lower back with a fractor, severe nerve root lesions, migraines, fybro, and crippling sciatica! When faced with all of this pain I am sometmes bedridden for days at a time! I am not able to perform any activities on a normal level and this causes depression! I became addicted to pain meds and eventually began abusing them! I went to the methadone clinic only to become addicted to another substance and began abusing that! I stopped cold turkey and thought I was on my death bed for about 6 weeks! I started drinking heavily and eventually went back to the pills! My pain, addiction, and depression have caused a constant battle for most of my adult life! Until I found Kratom! Kratom has given me my life back! I no longer have any desire to drink or take pills, I am able to function and perform my daily tasks pain free and happy! I never thought this was possible! Just when my life is getting back to normal the DEA wants to pull the rug out from under my feet?? I am mad but more than anything I am scared for my life!

I am a grandmother of 5. For years I was basically bedridden because of my debilitating chronic pain. Nothing seemed to ease my suffering until 2014, when I read about this wonderful organic kratom leaf? I ordered a small sample and after only 10-15 minutes, my pain melted away! I had not been pain free since 2002. It has never made me feel high, only melts my pain away. I have been able to enjoy my grandchildren, and live the life God intended me to live. If I lose this God given leaf, I most likely will be bedridden again and my grandkids will have lost an active gramma and wonder why? Please do not take this away from the people who need it to live a normal active pain free life!

First off, I want to say thank you for your efforts in this fight. I, and others, truly appreciate. I think extending the ban will be both good for kratom users and good for the DEA.

It will be good for the DEA because they will get to learn more about this herb they seem to misunderstand. I don’t think they expected this reaction, but I think by postponing the ban they’ll earn back some of the piblics trust.

And it’ll be good for kratom users for all the reasons others have stated. Personally, it’s good for me because I am a chronic pain sufferer who is VERY sensitive to medications of all varieties. Kratom helps me manage my pain from several bulging and herniated disks, degenerative disk disease, arthritis, cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, failed fusion syndrome, and occipital neuralgia, and it allows me to lead a semi-normal life. Without it I am effectively bedridden and not a productive member of society.

Thank you first of all.
Here’s my story. I struggled with severe pain for three years. Testing showed degenerating discs. 4 through 6 in my neck are shot and many throughout my spine are bulging..But the doctors won’t do surgery because of my age. They say I’m too young and fusing the discs would cause above and below to wear and id need surgery on them within ten years or so. I couldn’t function and wanted to die. Im 36. I was offered many narcotics but they made me mean and sick and didn’t last long.I tried everything from physical therapy to many epidurals. I was exhausting my insurance and our pocket book going very quickly in debt . Life was Hell. I was telling a friend what i was going through. He told me about Kratom. I ordered a trial package from a reputable vendor. I had relief after the first dose. I cried because it had been so long since i felt so good. Kratom didn’t make me fuzzy or sick or mean to my family. I could function to take care of my family ! I felt like i had been given my life back.
Now my life is being taken from me again and my condition hurts even more. Im forced to call my doctor back and possibly have surgery that needs put off as long as i can. Now what do i do? Tell me what would you do? Im heart broke. I believe in this herb. Please stop the ban. Yes it needs regulated but not banned. Im living proof this herb is good. My numbers have been perfect in the last two years i have used kratom daily!!!! All my doctors approve. If this plant is banned many will be effected . Society needs Kratom. I beg you please stop the ban. Please!

The rush on this ban shows a lack of respect for the public by the DEA. They have a vested interest in adding to the list of controlled substances, namely their own existance. They have not shown any interest in keeping the public safe or they would be as interested in furthering research into natural cures. When an agency makes a unilateral decision without giving time for public input and bases that decision on such scant evidence, something is not right. They should not have this power to start with.

my son, age 28, had been legally obtaining suboxone when it was terminated. he suffered grand mal seizures until a friend offered kratom. within 30 minutes seizures ended. that was six months ago. he has not taken an opiate in that time, nor has he had a seizure. if not for kratom i believe my son would be dead.

There is no “imminent hazard” to public health. If kratom is truly dangerous, the statistics would demonstrate this by now. I fear prohibition of kratom will contribute to the opiate overdose epidemic.

I think this ban should at least be delayed or be denied. At the very least delay the ban so Kratom vendors who were blindsided can get their affairs in order. 30 days notice is not much time to liquidate and closeout a business, then seek future employment. The DEA spokesperson Melvin Patterson has openly admitted in a Washington Post article that the criteria for this ban was incorrect. The DEA should dismiss the intent to ban Kratom, we will forgive their ignorance. In the future they should try to better educate themselves. Kratom poses no threat, set an age limit of 21 and be done. We are responsible adults of the USA, using an herbal remedy that’s been around for over 1,000 years. We demand the freedom to continue to do so.

The injustice to humans is so sad in this ban. Kratom gave me life back from chronic migrains. I have suffered with 20 migrains a month, laying in bed, missing out on life. That led to sever depression. After I found this herb, recommend to me in a migraine group, I am a new woman! I now deal with my migrains in a new light. The depression has lifted. This is just one of many tools in my tool box for a better life. Instead of coffee in the morning, I drink kratom… it is after all, the cousin of the coffee tree …we demand the freedom that we have every right to decide what we put in our bodies !! Blood will be on your hands… this will cause such a horrible heartbreaking backlash …

Thank you Mr. Tozzi! I have a hard time figuring out which emotion I should commit to as far as this ban. I am angry, but I am also very saddened do not even so much for myself but for those whom are far worse off than I. Mr. Tozzi, I spent almost 8 years in law enforcement, 4 of which I did a lot of UC buys in very bad areas… This is not drug period, let alone a dangerous drug being dealt in dark alleys. This plant is a miracle. Every day, I struggle with myself about a friend of mine that I’ve helped keep off of heroin for the last two months. His whole personality is different and in a very positive way. He was borderline suicidal when I started talking with him and offering my Kratom to him. Now, he is so hopeful and is so proud for staying off of drugs and I am so proud of him… I struggle with this because he doesn’t know about this ban and I don’t know what it will do to him when he is made aware of it. Every day I think to myself.. What am I going to say?? How can I comfort him? How can I make this OK?… I pray every night that I don’t have to have that talk with him. I have had so much hope for so many people as I’ve told them about this miraculous plant and that we have been blessed with.. I guess it is a good thing that I am no longer a cop, as I cannot even fathom for a single second having to arrest a disabled vet whom has got his life back and is no longer depressed, or an elderly man or women that can get out of bed in the morning now and can do so without pills, or young adult who is so proud of himself for freeing himself from an opioid addiction. I could not even imagine having to tell these people that it’s illegal, much less a FELONY! This is such a blatant abuse of authority and assault on the American person! I would be more than understanding of they followed North Carolinas lead and put an age restriction on it until further research can be made, but to just bypass mine as well as all of these other peoples opinions and stories and to ignore the positive findings that we already know because of some research that has been done and just take it away, 30 days notice, no need for public comment is atrocious at best!
If this ban takes place, PEOPLE WILL DIE and THAT should be the bigger issue! Not “flexing” and abusing “we the people”… I just pray that someone will find the words to say that will make the people behind this, rethink it. Thank you again, sir for your part in the fight.

President Obama I am a mixed race law student a tier 1 school I have followed every rule in my life and worked hard just like you. I hope to one day run for office but if this ban goes through I would be a felon for using a safe and effective plant for treating my anxiety. At a time when you claim to be winding the drug war down this makes no sense to happen on your watch please stop it.

I started using Mitragyna Speciosa two and a half years ago. I’ve suffered with severe bipolar disorder. All my life. I began having issues as an early teenager. I have been prescribed Paxil, Zoloft, anatriptaline, Valium, Depakote, and a few others. Nothing helped me. I had a motorcycle accident that severed my foot from my leg. I was prescribed perscription opiates. They made me feel good for a very short time. A few months into using the prescribed opiates I went into one of the worst bipolar episodes I had ever experienced thus far. I can only attribute that to the opiates I was taking at the time. I went from the sever depression bipolar into the bipolar/manic type. I tried stopping the opiates. The pain I was going through and the mental agony I experienced was tremendous. So now on top of my bipolar, I was suffering from chronic pain. So I kept taking opiates. I would feel good one month and another month or so I would go into a deep dark depression. I was either way up or way down. Which to me at the time was better than being severely depressed all the time. Either way, I was unable to take care of myself or my family with any kind of consistency. This pattern went on into my 30s. At the age of 32 I was introduced through differing support groups to plants and herbs that others claimed had helped them with similar issues. I tried quite a few and did quite a bit of research. Many did help. Such as holy basil for anxiety/ depression, turmeric for anti inflammatory, Akumma seeds that help with pain, shilijat, for mood, cats claw for pain, and many others. Then I began using Kratom. It didn’t work all that well at first. But I was told to keep trying, that different strains worked differently with individuals. I found a combination of green vein, and red vein leaves that began to help me considerably. Once I found the strain and proper amount to take, I noticed and family members noticed an enormous improvement in my wellbeing in general. I’ve been taking as I stated before for two and a half years now. I feel stable and balanced and just plain capable. Im well into a career now as a CNC department supervisor. I’ve been working the same place for two years. Prior to this job I haven’t been stable enough to maintain employment for any longer than 6 to 9 months. My family wife and children all attest to the difference this plant has made in my life. They feel as though they can depend on me, and they can and do now. I feel as though I’m clear minded, goal oriented, motivated, happy more times than not. My level of chronic pain and fatigue has all but disappeared. Many other aspects of my life have improved as well I could go on. That plant changed my whole families welfare not just mine. I beg you to do everything in your power to keep the DEA from taking this plant from myself and all the other 100s of thousands that it has done the same for. Research must be allowed to continue. This plant must not be taken from the people. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well. Our country is experiencing an opiate and pharmaceutical epidemic. This plant has brought many out of the grasp of that epidemic.

My testimony is simple: I’ve been on many antidepressants. Many times antidepressants along with other drugs such as antipsychotics….a cocktail. My depression is refractory, meaning difficult to treat. I’ve had depression for decades.

I can’t recall when Kratom came my way, but i do remember someone saying it helped their depression dramatically. I began using Kratom and the results are good. I have no side effects to deal with. I’m happy i discovered Kratom.

Those of us who use Kratom know that it’s safe. In my opinion, Kratom is not hurting anyone who uses Kratom without other drugs of abuse.

The DEA has not thought this Kratom ban all the way through and appears to not care to hear from us users. We ask for a fair and thorough hearing and to not have this ban shoved onto us.

I am a 41 year old mother of 6. Five of my children have special needs and require homeschooling. My husband is a disabled Air Force veteran, who will soon have his third surgury this year. He relies on Kratom to safely and effectively help the pain enough to move around, help care for our children and home, and hopefully return to work someday!

My own medical history is long and complicated. Let’s just say that I had both hips replaced at the age of 18, and things pretty much went downhill from there. I have literally fought for my life a number of times, and on more occasions than is reasonable, had physicians inform me that my deatg was immanent, in spite of their best efforts. I have clung on, with the grace of God, and am grateful to still be here, with my husband and childten. In spite of the constant, debilitating pain. So tell me, please–is it truly better for me to take high doses of multiple, legally prescribed narcotics, which are known to have killed, how many people? Or to supplement or replace these medications with an effective, benign substance that not one death can be definitively attributed to? Kratom works for me. It is often as effective as the narcotics I’ve been given, literally my whole adult life!

I know others have brought to your attention the DEA’s total lack of evidence for its claims, and tbe actual science that certainly suggests the opposite of the DEA’s claims. I can only speak to my experience and those of my loved ones. I have ttoadk–given the new government interference in the specific prescribing practices of narcotics, which will inevitably leave millions of legitimate chrobic pain patients untreated and debilitated, and certain governmental agencies determined to take Kratom away, for reasons I can only speculate on, just what is the actual “public health hazard” we are likely to see? The prospect is truly grim. Just where will a good portion of those lifelong law-abiding citizens likely to turn, out of true desperation? How many will die? And again, looking at actual evidence, how many of those would have been killed by Kratom?

The DEA has failed to show even a shred of evidence that kratom constitutes an eminent threat to public safety, therefore this emergency ban should be stopped altogether. 600 calls to poison control in 5 years is not grounds for an emergency ban. There are more calls placed than that in regards to aspirin toxicity on any given year. This is an assault on yet another natural remedy.

Mr. Tozzi, thank you for advocating to STOP the DEA from classifying the organic plant leaf, Kratom, as a Scheduled I Controlled Substance. I don’t understand how guns can be sold with lax laws, and/or indiscriminately, when they are LETHAL, and a plant which is helping thousands upon thousands of people, for the same amount of years, is going to be BANNED, & if caught with ?Kratom, it will be a felony. Just as MMJ is being regulated and approved by the MMP PER state. I became disabled after a fall 3.5 years ago. Severe, chronic, debilitating pain with the only treatment is Pain Mngmnt with Opioids. I will need ALTERNATIVE oral and topical alkaloids, with analgesic properties, to substitute for the opioids. That medication is causing terrible constipation which cN cause serious health problems. The OIC Ned’s I’ve tried cause your pain medication levels in your blood, to stop, so you experience withdrawal and increased pain. They’re not feasible. We millions of people with Chronic Pain WANT better quality to our lives and we are fighting for it. I believe fellow Chronic Pain members, when they say Kratom works. Please do NOT make this a schedule I drug. It’s the wrong thing to do. PLACE PEOPLES LIVES OVER CAPITAL GAIN on this Pain issue. My ex husband fell victim to mismanagement of his pain and depression in a southern state and its hospital system. He was suicidal and wanted off the opioids. They took him off the opioids, put him on Lyrica & sent him home, even though he was still suffering physically and mentally. He took his own life at the age of 57, because there weren’t any resources for him down there and he just could not hang in there any longer. He deserved better. We all deserve better. We deserve these plants which have alkaloids which are PROVEN to be effective in treating all sorts of conditions, and chronic pain is just one which it helps relieve pain, without psychoactive “highs” but calming side effects without life crippling constipation. DEA & FDA, you have a responsibility to everyday Americans. NOT BIGPHARMA. Your job is to approve drugs and foods that are helpful to people, not harmful. How dare you let Monsanto seeds be distributed amongst farmers and these are the only seed that can be used if rubs indies are expected. Poison, toxic chemicals in our foods. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. BAN THOSE CHEMICALS IN FOODS which other countries would NEVER feed their people. Don’t ban helpful, life saving and healing Botanicals, such as Kratom. It’s making you look like you’re intentionally trying to lower our population by making them sick. DO THE RIGHT THING. WE will continue to fight for our rights yo consume whatever we’d like to. I was an RN for over 35 years. I lived a very active and healthy lifestyle, because that U.S. What made me feel good. I WANT TO BE WELL AGAIN, at least with my bodily functions and be free of opioids but have these Botanical as an option and resource. Thank you or reading this.

My above comment was subjected to auto-spell. I was saying WE will cont. to fight for our rights to consume whatever we’d like to. I wrote that I lived a very healthy lifestyle , because that is what made me feel good. Farmers must use the Monsanto seeds if subsidies are expected.

Kratom has saved my life. I have been having severe anxiety and panic attacks and depression for about 4 years . I used to be house bound . When my kids would go to school I would stay in my bedroom. Until they would get home. My anxiety and panic attacks would get so bad where I couldn’t even breath and I would have very bad chest pains from them. I went to numerous doctors and hospitals to see if maybe I was having a heart attack it sure felt like it . Well all the doctors told me it wasent a heart attack. I was in perfect heath only thing that was wrong with me is that I have severe anxiety and panic and depression. I constantly would have suicidal thoughts and even came close to taking my own life two years ago. Well almost two years ago I prayed to God and asked him to send me something all natural that would help me. Cause if I didn’t find something soon I am scared I will lose my mind with all this mentally pain. Well I was in a smoke shop almost two years ago and a lady told me about kratom it supposed to help with anxiety and panic attacks. She knows people that takes it and it has changed there life around. Well I ended up doing research on kratom for months before buying some and I heard all great things from it. So I figured I would give it a try. I knew I had to try something if I didn’t I know things would get worse for me. So I ended up ordering some from a great reliable vendor on here and wow my first time taking it is was feeling amazing all my anxiety and panic attacks were gone it took away all my thoughts of suicide away I was actually going out to to stores and events with my kids and husband and I was more talkative and I didn’t close my self in my room anymore. It took all my mental pain away I was smiling again and I had a spark coming from me again which I have not seen for years. Kratom has surely saved my life and the thought of losing it scares me to death I’m afraid not to be able to take it after September 30th . I have tried anti depressants and they just made me even worse then I was already. My kids and my husband sees the big difference in me. I’m happy again . I don’t wanna feel that emotional pain I was feeling two years ago I don’t want the full blown anxiety attacks and panic and tracks to come back. That’s why I take kratom. It’s a miracle herb that’s needs to stay legal. It is helping so many people out. My heart goes out to everyone that might lose this amazing herb.

Please don’t ban Kratom it’s has been a miracle from God that has helped me and many more.
Cassandra Simonson

Thank you for this. I was an addict but now I’m not. (Yea right, that’s what the commercial would have you believe) I once was an addict for over 20 years and I’m still an addict. But one day I decided to take a different road. I decided that I was tired of waking up dope sick, tired of not being trusted, tired of not being able to trust anyone around me that I so called considered “friends”, tired of worrying about not waking up at all, tired of not having any money, tired of losing jobs-family-going to jail. So I decided that it was time to do something about it. I had tried rehab. Six or seven times to say the least. Their philosophy was I needed to drop all medications because my problem was even though I was in pain, I didn’t know when enough was enough. I couldn’t just take 1-2 every 6 hours. I had to take 3-4 every 6. Then 4-5 every 4. Then before I knew it I was counting pills every hour freaking out like an obsessed person. I did this for years but kept getting the meds because my pain was legit but the meds just weren’t lasting long enough. Then one thing would lead to another and things would just always go from bad to worse. Before I even could stop myself to even realize what I was doing I was taking 30-45 pills a day for years and buying from the streets. Then I would go from doctor to doctor with my complaints. One doctor confronted me one time and made a joke out of it. “I see you been shopping,” he says. “Its either you stay with him or me.” I give him some sappy story, he wrote me a script and I was on my way. Oh well, that held me off til he could be replaced. Then a friend from my past and I spoke and I told her one day that I’m tired. I had lost my brother to an accidental overdose, went to his funeral, and hardly remember being there. My mom had passed away a year later, very I’ll with leukemia, I was so high that I’m not sure I accepted the fact she was even sick or how rapidly she was dieing until after she passed. Then I lost my husband in 2010. I had just given up and I really just didn’t have much left. But in 2015, I lost my boyfriend, and that was just the straw breaking the camels back. I had lost all hope. I didn’t care. I gave up and was depressed and felt like God had just decided that I wasnt worth it anymore either. While there is more to my story, I’d like to wrap up by saying that her introducing me to KraTom has been a high point of my life. I no longer take opiates and I had major surgery 1 1/2 months ago. I’m very proud of myself and I have my friends and family back. The ones I care about anyssy

Thank you Mr.Tozzi and the CRE group. for standing up and crying foul to the DEA’s actions. I’m another chronic pain person that is impacted by this kratom ban.It was working well for me and then it was quietly banned in my state in February of this year. Oh, they said they posted something in the local paper about it,so the public could comment if they wanted to, but I didn’t read the classified ads that day in the local paper. Not many did, because no one showed up to protest! So, now I am back on the dreaded pain pills that don’t work a tenth as well as kratom did and searching options about moving to a place where I can access my supply again.

This ban on the natural plant Kratom will do much more harm than you may be aware… I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and degenerative arthritis 9 yrs ago and began a treatment involving pharmaceutical medications…Vicodin, tramadol, etodolac, Flexeril, and Mirapex . I was functioning at about 60% as. I was so dopey and sleepy all the time. My life of pain became a life of drugs. I was given Kratom by a friend over a year ago and it gave me my life back. I can work again (8 hours on my feet retail), care for my home and family again. I no longer take the listed medications regularly and have gotten my love of life back.
My husband calls it a miracle as he was convinced the wife he knew was gone but has returned to him. We are active and happy.
I no longer consider filing for disability as before since I am able to work my 40+ hours again without using my sick time weekly as before.
Please do not make me a criminal or a statistic on disability and stop this ban. Order research studies, if you must, do trials…whatever you decide, but do not allow the DEA to make me a zombie again suffering in pain so severe that I can’t sleep a full night without getting up for more pills.
Thank you, Sir, for your attention and consideration for all of us whom Kratom has helped so very much.

I have been taking Kratom for 5 years now daily. I have rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain. Kratom has helped me live a normal life. I used to have to take narcotic pain medication and live my life in a fog so to speak. I’m 39 years old and I’m a mom, a wife, and a baker. My job requires me to be on my feet and on the move sometimes 9-10 hours a day. I would not be able to complete my duties without the help of Kratom. I am a law-abiding citizen, I’ve never been arrested and have the utmost respect for law enforcement. After hearing the news that the DEA wants to ban Kratom I was, and still am devastated. I don’t know what will happen to me. I suppose I will have no choice but to either be in constant pain or return to using narcotic pain medication. Honestly I think the former is the better option for me although I know that would lead to depression and I probably would ultimately turn to the pills. This ban is not right. I would be considered a felon if I continued to use Kratom and that is mind boggling to me. I want the right to take care of my body and what ails me however I choose. They will ruin lives if this ban goes through. They have no basis for pushing this ban and it isn’t right that they are trying to manipulate people into believing Kratom is dangerous. I am a living, breathing testament to the benefits of Kratom. Please help us to stop this abuse of power.

I’m a mother, wife and friend to many. It hasn’t always been that I was able to have many friends bc of my severe social anxiety. Kratom helps me over come that. Even more is the fact that I found Kratom bc I was trying to find a way to quit Heroin and narcotic pain meds. My life was almost destroyed bc of these additions, Kratom got me clean and helped me stay clean. Now that I’ve been clean for 5 years I use the Kratom for my depression and social anxiety. It is cruel and unjustified to take it from me and the many others who’s lives it has saved.

I have been taking kratom for 7 years for fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety. It has helped me get off numerous prescription drugs and gives me no side effects. This stuff does not make a person high. People take it for various reasons, but most of them take it for pain control. Opiates have too many side effects and are addicting. Kratom is not a cure for all of our ailments, but it does help us to live better and fuller lives. We don’t want to be jailed just because we want to be free of pain and be able to live decent lives. Thank you CRE for joining this fight for us.

What kind of a free country do we live in? This is bullshit to
Take away herbs. This plant helped save my life. I can’t imagine what
My life will be like without it and I don’t want to find out. Keep it legal!!!!

Kratom has given me my quality of life back. It is wonderful to not have to take synthetically made drugs, not be in a medicine fog. It is an all natural substance that is unadulterated. It’s helped me to enjoy life and enjoy my children, and it helps me to not be so anxious and depressed, and it helps me to not be in pain, and to live a full quality life.

The single most glaring element of cognitive dissonance in this action, is the DEA’s claim of acting on the behalf of people of America because of the “imminent hazard” posed by kratom yet purposefully skirting the legally mandated period of public response. They claim to act in our interest without accepting our comments as to what our interests actually are in this matter. Also avoided here are the comments and perspectives of actual experts in the scientific and medical communities. One can only conclude that the only interests the DEA act on behalf of in this decision are their own.

Well said, John D. It is yet another example of what at one time (in the dim and distant past) was a government that really was “by the people, for the people, and of the people”. Now we have a government driven by crony capitalism and world improving meddlers who are not in the least bit interested in what the plebs have to say. I don’t question the intentions of the meddlers as I imagine they genuinely think they are doing the right thing but how about some due process here!

I do believe we have the government we deserve. When we can collectively pull our heads away from these glowing screens long enough to take a hard look at our elective process this nation and it’s politics will change. When people finally wake up and realize that voting for a D or an R or “the lesser of two evils” has gotten us just what we deserve maybe real change can come. I am praying…

I find it very troubling and concerning that, without public comment or Congressional hearings, a Government agency can create laws and then will seek budget authority to enforce the law that they created.

The DEA needs to keep Kratom and its alkaloids legal. If they make it illegal this will create a black market for it, cause people to turn to heroin and other drugs,and take millions of lives. Do they not care about their Veterans? Because millions of Kratom users are Veterans, people with pain, anxiety, depression, and many other ailments and diseases. It is a safer alternative. The pharmaceutical industry is unfortunately greedy and only cares about money not saving lives. This is our country not theirs! Let’s take it back! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/please-do-not-make-kratom-schedule-i-substance

Vetted, legitimate vendors are being forced out of business by the DEA’s hasty decision, and already some dishonest people are seeking to take advantage of this situation. Word-of-mouth and friendly relationships with reputable, law-abiding vendors who care about kratom and the people who need it has kept us safe for many many years, and we do not need a ban, for ANY length of time!

We cannot afford to establish a black market and risk the safety of those who may feel they don’t have any other option. Those who suffer incredibly from chronic pain, severe mental health issues, and those who are not on solid ground yet with their recovery from heroin or synthetic opiate addiction.

This ban would take something safe from the hands of good people and give it to those who do not care about the law. It takes the open, caring and helpful community of users who have supported each other, and plunges them underground to a world of illegal drugs, that many of these people would be entering for the first time.

This will hurt many, many people. Prescription opiates are already deadly, sold illegally, and hard to obtain through doctors for even legitimate patients who really need them! You have cracked down on their pain meds and left them with kratom, a natural and safe alternative. Now you want to force those people who can’t get through a day of life without excruciating and debilitating pain to choose to either live with that pain for years while you decide if it’s safe enough for people to use, or become criminals! There many people who will not follow this law because their only choice is to either get kratom illegally or kill themselves because the pain is too much! Those are the people our community cares for and are standing up for! Don’t take kratom away from those good people. Not even for a moment!

I am reading the USA Today paper dated September 16, 2016. It says “the Justice Department is preparing to launch a renewed strategy to address the unrelenting scourge of heroin and opioid addiction”. This is “an eleventh-hour push by the Obama administration against a public health crisis that claims nearly 100 people each day in the USA.” Also, “The people who look at this problem realize quickly how devastating it has been to families to communities, to public health dollars, to law enforcement resources.” “THERE IS NO MAGIC BULLET FOR THIS” (Attorney General Loretta Lynch). Ahem, the DEA and FDA KNOW there is a magic bullet – so do pharmaceutical companies, hence the patents on the two main pain-killing alkaloids. The public is only getting one sided information. They say they are so concerned and yet they are going to either make felons out of people using Kratom for life-saving management of their pain or cause them to become opiate addicts/dependents to possibly die either from an accidental opioid overdose or be home-bound in horrific pain. PLEASE do not ban Kratom. Regulate it, study it, but don’t place it in Schedule I. It most certainly does have medical benefit!! People looking to get high on it are going to be disappointed. It has a built-in life saving mechanism that if one takes too much, it causes one to purge (vomit). This plant is what can get all those opioid addicts off their poison – CHEAPLY. It doesn’t involve in-patient treatment, thousands of dollars or pharmaceuticals (sorry, methadone and subs one are opiates too with their side effects). Stop the madness! Stop opiate addiction! Kratom is God’s gift.

I’m 53, I suffer rheumatoid arthritis , fibro myalgia, sjogrens syndrome, depression and anxiety from this crippling disease. I’m now the caretaker for my husband, of nearly 40 years. I’ve been on countless pharmaceutical medications as I was treated by my doctors , along the last 25 years of battling this crippling disease. My life was of no quality. In my quest for something more natural for pain relief I was able to find that this plant had properties that might very well help me endure the challenges of this chronic crippling disease. I didn’t have good expectations. I waited patiently in my chair after this morning cup of tea, and then went to let my little dog out for her morning walk.. I ended up walking with her into my yard that very morning. I stood with her under the shade tree with tears running down my cheeks.. I couldn’t believe it.. my pain level really had dropped! I’m now the care taker of my husband as he declines rapidly with multiple sclerosis.. he has no one but me. He took care of me for many years as I suffered both total knee replacement surgeries and other countless physical and painful hardships of emergency room visits, doctors appointments.. now it is I that takes care of him and our home, and children. Without this leaf my life would go back to being what it was before… please don’t take this plant

Hello, I’m a 54 yr old married women who has been suffering from osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, DDD with sciatica. While in my 40’s my doctor had diagnosed me with bulging discs in my lower back after leaving work with excruciating pain! My doctor placed me on vicodin and a muscle relaxer. After 10 years of taking these meds exactly as prescribed, the government decided to make it exceeding more difficult for anyone to receive these drugs, because some had become addicted. Even though I wasn’t one of those who abused my medication, and even though at this point my back was even worse, I couldn’t jump through all the hoops that the government has
put in place in order to continue getting pain relief. After doing some research online, I decided I needed to look for a natural remedy, and weened myself off the narcodics and tried kratom. My lufe changed at that moment! NO PAIN! NO SIDE EFFECTS! It truly is a miracle plant! I don’t know what I’ll do if this wonderful plant is made illegal! Please, stop this ban. Nothing GOOD will come from banning it. Lives WILL be lost! Please, don’t let that happen!

I use kratom to treat the pain associated with MS, DDD, scoliosis, spondylosis, OA & SA… After about 10 years of using doctor prescribed narcotic pain meds, and NOT one of them controlled MY PAIN, I was at a cross roads thinking there was never going to be a solution to my chronic pain and that the rest of my life would be spent in this misserable existance in which the pain meds heavily contributed.

Four years ago, in a random conversation with a gentleman in the lobby of a hotel, I was introduced to Kratom. From that day forward my life has steadily improved.. I am actually living and working and enjoying my life again.

Kratom has been and is the only thing I have tried in 15 years that controls my pain to a tolerable and livable level without the life sucking side effects.

Kratom does not get you “high”. If you try to get high on kratom you will sorely be disappointed and believe me before I found Kratom I was getting plenty “HIGH” on the 112 30mg oxycodone, 84 10mg Percocet, 54 xanax, and 84 soma I was prescribed every 28 days. (and remember all of this was NOT controlling my pain but it was definitely keeping me “high”)

I am at a loss for words when I think that my government would prefer I live the former misserable existence, not able to contribute to society but rather live as a burden on government on disability..

When there is no end to the number of testimonials on Facebook and YouTube and various websites all over the internet about how kratom has steadily improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people..red blooded Americans.. how can our government want to take this away from us especially when there are an equal number a testimonys on Facebook YouTube and various websites about how the government approved pain management treatment programs have destroyed lives!

Mr. Tozzi, thank you for your common sense on this issue. I feel the DEA is overstepping its boundaries and in my opinion we should be allowed to make our own decisions on self dosing with natural solutions. Some people will abuse it yes, but overdose is not an issue with Kratom and there’s always the others who use responsibly. We as humans should have the right to dictate our own choices and I for one am getting sick of the federal government trying to tell me whats good or bad for me especially when it comes to Kratom as there are no overdoses on record from Kratom alone. I am glad so many are coming out of the wood work to stand up for their natural rights against a government that has been abusing it’s power for far too long. As I read more and more personal stories from other Kratom users, I get more uplifted by the day. We mostly are a community of educated individuals from all walks of life, who use this herb responsibly. If anything, this situation has brought us together and has brought Kratom to the public eye. I am not a criminal, I pay my taxes that fund these government programs that are trying to take away my rights, I follow their system accordingly despite my Kratom use. When September 30th 2016 rolls around, I could become a felon and this absolutely baffles me.

It is unfortunate for me that this is the path the DEA is taking. I do not understand their motivation, although a part of me, with all the recent news of corruption in our government, is starting to believe that there is an ulterior motive to the scheduling. I hope not. I have faith in my country, and i hope that the DEA and the branches of government may still have some semblance of integrity when it comes to the well being of the people who empower them.

I have a congenital disease. I have an Arteriovenous Malformation that causes severe debilitating pain. I can no longer work, but can get disability. I don’t have insurance and can no longer afford medication prescribed by the doctors. Kratom is the ONLY thing that works for me and allows me to function almost a completely normal life. If this herb is taken away I don’t know what will happen to me or how I will care for my kids. This December I will have been taken Kratom for 2 years and I have had better results with it than with the poisons the doctors have been giving me.

I have suffered from.chronic pain (RA and fibromyalgia) for over 13 years. I have tried all the big oharma pain killers to no avail. I have used Kratom for over a year. KRATOM saved you life. Kratom has.given me a quality of life I never thought possible. Kratom helps control my pain, fatigue, and anxiety. Kratom allows me to work and participate in social activities. To ban Kratom will take away my quality of.life as wife, mom, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. Please stop the bad and help all of us who need Kratom to have a decent life with horrific noncurable diseases. #iamkratom #keepkratomlegal #kratomsaveslives

Thank you so much Mr.Tozzi for listening to the people and standing up for what is right!!

I take Kratom to help with Depression, I also take for my Back pain and Hs skin disease. I am a Stay at home mom of 3 children, before Kratom most days I was unable to get out of bed and when I did it was from the bed to the couch, I had no energy and hurt to bad to do much of anything. Since Kratom I could say my days are very productive, I am no longer sad and living in the past that caused me to go in a depression state. I am no longer going from the bed to couch from being in pain, I am actually getting up getting kids ready for school and doing daily duties pain free. The amount of Kratom I take in a day depends on my pain levels as some days are worse then others. I have never had any bad side effects while taking Kratom in fact I have good effects from Kratom, I feel more energized and clear headed. I don’t feel drowsy as I do on the pain medications my Dr. has prescribed or nauseous. I feel Happy, normal and refreshed. Kratom helps me daily and has for years now, I do depend on it and the reason I do is because one way or another I have to take something every day to function. If Kratom is banned then I will be forced to switch back to the pills that caused me to be drowsy, fog headed, and nauseous which is not a life I would like to live esp when I have to drive, cook, and make important decisions with and for 3 children. Please don’t ban this plant that has helped and saved so many lives. With Kratom I look forward to the future please don’t force me back into the past!!

DEA is power and control hungry, I feel bad for my fellow Kratom users. This is going to force a lot of people that use kratom for pain reduction and for getting off heroin to go get illegal drugs in the street. Good news for the local drug dealer though. The blood of these poor people will be upon the DEA and all who support this!! Shameful!!

As a 27 year-old honors student, single mother, and community volunteer I am shocked and scared. I suffer with Fibromyalgia, Ankylosing Spondylitis, and PTSD. Pharmaceutical drugs did not take away the pain and left me barely able to function. With vitamins and the herbal supplement, kratom, I have been able to take on mentoring at risk youth, an honors thesis project, and many more activities with my six year old daughter. I have been 100% coherent and healthy since taking kratom when a bad flare hits. I was going to drop out of school and file for disability before I found kratom.

Please consider us chronic and terminal illness sufferers, our military vets with PTSD, parents whose children need them, recovered addicts who will resort to heroin, and the depressed who have threatened suicide if this ban goes into effect. Many users will go to the black market. Unemployment will also rise. More people will file for disability and welfare because they will not physically and/or mentally be able to work. This is life or death for thousands, quality of life for thousands more.

I have fibro, DDD, spinal stenosis, facet joint problems,ruptured disks, IBS and a few other things.I have had these for many many years.The dr. had me trying different drugs. Morphine, codeine, muscle relaxers(several).They did NOT work.These caused side effects and overall harm to my body…aside from the fact that they are addictive and one never know when the powers that be willchange rules and forbid you to get them..leaving you with horrendous withdrawal symptoms.

I was told about Kratom by a friend and my life changed! I can play with my grandkids, take walks, enjoy things everyone takes for granted.Not having to be in bed most of the day.

Kratom..agift from God..a simple leaf related to coffee..used for hundreds of years.No side effects,nohigh.just relief from 24/1 severe pain.For me,Kratom doesnt take awayall the pain, but enough to live.

People will die if this is banned. The biggest reason for death in fibro patients is suicide, yes, suicide. 38%. that’s not including those that suffer from another type of chronic pain..who knows the percentage.

This whole thing is devastating! I suffered with very bad anxiety and depression. So bad i missed out on my kids school functions, i couldn’t go grocery shopping. I wasn’t living a normal life. The prescription pain meds i was on made me very groggy and loopy all the time. I felt like a zombie! Then i was introduced to Kratom. From that point on my life changed for the better. I am so thankful for this plant that helped me live again. I now feel whole. Please don’t do this to my family. It will hurt so many people. My kids are greatful to have their mom back. Please do what is right.

I have sciatica, generalized anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder and been on so many different medications, it is sickening. Kratom is the first natural supplement that ever helpes me. This ban is ridiculous and just a greedy move by power hungry people! Kratom helped me get my life back

This is the land of the free right? Then lets stop the DEA from banning a leaf. A leaf that alone has never caused a death. A leaf that helps hundreds of thousands of people live their lives. Ive been dx’d with PTSD and self medicated with different illegal drugs to find some normalcy. I now have children and do not want to become a criminal just to feel normal. I have tried several Pharmaceuticals throughout my life and some would help a little but I would have horrible side effects, some of those prescriptions didnt work at all and some of them made my depression and anxiety worse. If this isnt about money then why is there a patent on the two alkaloids present in kratom?

Kratom is not addicting! Ive stopped using it countless times when I didnt need it without any “withdrawls”… I am more addicted to coffee than I am Kratom. Kratom is just something taken to help naturally when I need it. All the ban is going to do is destroy lives when people were just starting to get it back. The USA is nothing but a money market and corrupt.

Without kratom, I’d have died a little over 2 years ago from suicide due to constant, agonizing chronic pain, severe depression, anxiety and the inability to get off of prescription narcotics. I almost drove into a tree the day before my doctor told me about kratom.

Before kratom, I was taking several dangerous medications such as methadone, oxycontin, roxicodone, morphine, zanaflex, klonopin, seroquel and many others over the years to control my conditions and related symptoms or side effects of the medications. I even had to watch my own daughter endure the horrendous withdrawal of methadone after her birth for more than 6 months.

I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a daughter. I am a 30 year-old working American.

For 5 years I progressively suffered a life of worsening arthritis (chronic pain) thru nearly every joint in my body, knees and back the worst. Which also lead to Chronic fatigue and diminishing muscles leading to cramps and nerve pain, I could no longer be active. I put on about 80 pounds. My marriage suffered. Luckily I had a work from home job but even that was getting harder to perform as I could barely stay awake. I had no energy. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I couldn’t even clean my own house anymore. My only relief was sleep. I was basically dead, but alive. I had a battery of tests, all they would say it was arthritis and nothing they could do. I tried PT and it made the pain worse, I couldn’t bare to go. I BEGGED for something for the pain. With all the scheduling and scrutiny on Drs to write for pain meds, all they would tell me was to take tylenol and advil. That did NOT even touch the pain, just kills your liver. I pretty much gave up on going to any DR, it was a waste of what was left of any ounce of energy I had. I started researching natural remedies, thinking maybe some vitamins or herbs would help. I came across Kratom and read COUNTLESS testimonials on how it has helped so many. I was skeptical myself, but the testimonials were very sincere. The 1st batch I got helped me so much I decided to try different strains and thru trial and error, I found my magic cure! Since then, I am only in pain about 10% of the time. I only need Kratom once a day. I do not get “high” I do not hallucinate. You cannot overdose as taking too much would only cause stomach irritation, in which you would vomit before any form of overdose. The only bad side effect is it tastes awful! I cannot imagine anyone taking this for FUN. Instead, in the last 9 months, Kratom has given me a chance at LIVING again. Where I slowly dying for 5 years and had no quality of life, I am now 90% pain free, I have enough energy to clean, cook, go shopping and even be more productive at work. I don’t want to sit home and sleep all the time just to be pain free. I GO places!!! My marriage has improved immensly and I have even lost 20 pounds, not much but it’s a step in the right direction. I recently joined a gym too! It is a plant from God and it has truly been a Godsend to me. Please do NOT let the DEA ban this. Please force them to study it as well as take into consideration the testimonials of the hundreds of thousands of people it has helped, which by the way includes HELPING people overcome addictions that kill. No person has ever died or overdosed from Kratom in it’s natural form which is how most all people use it. The few statistical examples they are using of deaths from Kratom are people who had other drugs in their system. http://www.snopes.com/kratom-banned-by-the-dea/ is a great educational article. Please do what you can to stop the scheduling of Kratom. Thank You

Absolutely!!! Those of us here have turned our lives in a new direction. We were all broken and out of desperation and disgust with our medical community, sought alternative options for our conditions. We are productive and active members of society. Personally, I had diligently followed my physician’s treatment plan for chronic fatigue, pelvic pain, FMS, spinal stenosis, high blood pressure and degenerative arthiritis. After twenty years in the loop of oxycodone, anti-depressants, lyrica, ambien, Xanax, blood pressure meds and muscle relaxers, the side effects and disconnect from life rendered me hopeless. When I learned of Kratom, I knew I was making a big decision. I have taken two t of Kratom daily for three years. It has salvaged me and restored me. I am active and engaged with friends, family and community. It is such a disappointment with me and the Kratom community that the DEA is locking us out of the life we have restored through this herb. It does not create a high and is not habit forming. Please take a humane stance for humans and realize that scheduling Kratom will create more problems for those that suffer. The position of the DEA is cruelty to humans.

Gayla Elrod I have been using kratom for almost 2 years now and it has literally given me my life back. Before using kratom I was bedridden due to severe pain from severe rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis degenerative disc disease scoliosis bulging disc in lower back L2_3_4_5_S1 and cervical spine C345 also ankylosing spondylitis nerve damage and many other problems with my neck and back due to being hit by a drunk driver over 30 years ago. Once I tried kratom after about a week I decided to TRY and do some of my housework myself as I had been getting up and around for the first time in a year other than to go to the bathroom only before when I was bedridden. So I got up and swept mopped and vacuumed my whole mobile home by myself. Did I have to take breaks of course I did but I didn’t care because I felt more alive than I HAD FELT IN YEARS! When my son came home from work he couldn’t believe that I had done it myself. My son, sister and brother began to notice a big change in me because I was no longer depressed due to my condition because now I could go places and do a few things besides lying in bed and praying for death due to the pain and depression that goes with it. I have FELT so much better since using kratom I just can’t understand why Mr. President you would want to take the only thing away THAT HELPS ME and many others get by on a daily basis! I’m asking that you please reconsider until MORE research is DONE ON KRATOM. IT IS NOT A DRUG like HEROIN OR cocaine or any of the other hard drug’s listed as schedule 1 drugs. You do not nor can you get HIGH from kratom because if you take to much all that will happen is you will vomit. Please on my behalf and many others including some of OUR returned MILITARY MEN AND WOMEN DO NOT MAKE THIS A SCHEDULE 1 DRUG and CAUSE US TO GO BACK TO A LIFE OF PAIN!! THANK YOU FOR listening

I am a grieving parent of five years. I was down in disparity, wanting to end my life. I tried so hard to work with counselors, therapists and doctors, but nothing was pulling me out of the hole. I was taking way too many painkillers due to chronic pain and fibromyalgia. Three months ago I was introduced to kratom. My perspective changed from one of loss to one of hope. Please do not let me slip away again. My living children need me. I can’t go back to that.

Please help us keep our all natural plant that helps us with cronic pain live our lives instead of survive with no quality of life! I have degenerative disk,spondylosis of cercicothoracac,thoracic,lumbosacral regions. As well as cervicalgia.i was on numerous opioids which did absolutely nothing for the pain and added depression. I was foggy brained and could t remember anything! I found this after months of research for national alternatives. This plant has saved my job, marriage and ultimately my life. Please understand I do not want to take a synthetic that will not help me. I love the pain relief without the side effects that Kratom provides.

Kratom helped me break a 10+ year dependence on opiods (Oxycodone) and benzos (Xanax). A teaspoon of plowdered leaf a couple of times a day effectively and safely managed my chronic pain, allowing me to once again participate in life. I’ve met hundreds of hard working people who have also benefited from taking Kratom.

If the DEA bans Kratom, the opiod crisis is going to get worse, and many lives will be lost, or at the very least, destroyed.

Please conduct research on the benefits of this plant. It has saved many lives, and could save so many more.

I’m sure there are many members of the group with way more inspiring and long term stories but here’s mine. I’ve suffered from severe anxiety and depression my whole life. I’ve been on about every antidepressant, benzo, sleeping pill, etc. The side effects always seemed to outweigh the benefits because weight gain, lost libido, all gave me more things to be depressed about. I drank alot. Getting through my pregnancy med and alcohol free was the hardest thing i ever did. Using Kratom the past couple months has made me more productive, helped my moods giving me there patience to truly enjoy my son and not worry so much about the little things. And I remember every minute, no more getting black out drunk and losing chunks of time. I have no desire to drink. My son is 17 months old and while I never went back to the way things were before pregnancy the desire was still there but it’s gone now. I no longer take any antidepressants and rarely take my prescribed anxiety meds. I can now enjoy a headache from smiling too much as opposed to daily tension headaches. Kratom does not get me high or impair my judgement in any way. I want to be the best possible mother I can be for my son, not a depressed lump on the couch with no motivation.

Kratom got me off of codeine, xanax, depakote, trazdone, and adderall which VA gave to me by the buckets full. Feeling the best I’ve ever felt in my life. Please do not make kratom illegal. I don’t want to go back to meds or the doctor again!!!!!

I struggled with social anxiety, depression and addiction to opiates and alcohol throughout my 20’s. When I discovered kratom I finally felt that I was able to break free of these chains and return to leading a healthy and productive life. I feel “normal” again. I have been able to work over 40 hours a week, I exercise daily, and I sleep wonderfully. I used to dread the mornings – I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed to face the day. Kratom has changed this – I really feel that it has been a miracle and saved my life. For those of us who use kratom – we are not hurting anyone. We are not drug seeking “junkies” (even though I don’t really like that word). We are just human beings with struggles in life and we have found a way to alleviate our physical, emotional, and mental pain with a leaf from a tree instead of with a synthetic component in a pill. It is my desire to be able to function in this world and have my place in society and kratom has allowed me to do this. Kratom is not dangerous – it does not cause fatalities unlike numerous prescription and over the counter drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Prohibition has never worked. The war on drugs has not been successful. There are certain freedoms that I believe American citizens should be allowed and the way that we manage our health is one of these very important freedoms. The DEA is part of the executive branch of government that is meant to enforce laws, not create laws. This overreach of power is incredulous. PLEASE, let us stand up for our rights and fight this schedule 1 decision.

I havr chronic pain from a terminal illness, and kratom is the only thing that works for pain without poisoning my failing kidneys. 2 weeks minus until my life goes back to pain and misery, because I REFUSE to go back to prescription poisons.

Thank you Mt Tozzi. It would be pointless for me to list the 31 pharmaceuticals that I have experience with, because we all know that the entire focus here is to keep all of us, law abiding citizens, on as many of those big money making meds, as possible. Money is the name of the game. The greedy, selfish individuals that profit from us as long as they can keep us UNhealthy, will have to answer for their actions one way or another. It would take me hours to list all of my diagnoses and most of them have already been addressed in previous comments. I accepted years ago, that my daily life would consist of unrelenting pain, due to an S1 to T9 spinal fusion. But what I had not accepted and desperately longed for was my mental health and emotional state. I wanted to know what “normal” felt like. I wanted to be and feel normal. After years of anti depressants, anti anxiety meds, sleep meds, etc. left me in a coma and my 4 children almost lost their Mother, I’d had enough. I chose, without any help, to discontinue every single one of them. I believe I was actively taking 12 different ones at the time. For 6 years I just existed, literally. 2 years ago I began my quest for a more natural way of living and discovered Kratom. For the first time in my 50 years, I feel and I am, normal. The past 2 years have been the most enjoyable and fulfilling years of my life! My only regret is that my children missed out, all those years, on the “normal” Mom I am today! Shame on the DEA! What has happened to MY great country that I once was so proud to live in? What about MY rights and MY freedom? Why isn’t it MY choice to do and treat my body as I wish? Basically, what it boils down to is, the greedy, conniving politicians, pharmaceutical companies and government officials, actually own MY, this, body that I’ve been living in! I’m saddened and filled with grief, knowing this is the country I’m leaving to my children. I’m a disabled Mother, Grandmother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt and my name is Phyllis. Please help stop the ban on Kratom

I am a hardworking, law abiding mother of 3. I am happy, healthy, & active. After September 30th none of that will be true, all because of the DEA’s hasty, tyrannical scheduling of kratom.

If they wanted to stop the “problem” they could’ve quietly gotten rid of the kratom mixtures sold in gas stations & head shops, & made it 18+ to buy. Instead they’ve called huge attention to this innocuous plant by spreading misinformation & skewed data, effectively creating the issue they claim to be preventing.

Tens of thousands of us use kratom to relive a myriad of health issues, many which would otherwise be debilitating. This ban will put many kratom users out of work. Our reputable, trustworthy vendors will be shut down, putting even more out of work, & losing millions in tax dollars that would otherwise be put back into our economy. People who use kratom to stay away from illegal drugs will inevitably be pulled back into using harder drugs, causing even more overdoses than we’ve already been seeing. (Overdoses doubled in Alabama after their ban.) Those who use it to help depression & anxiety, (many of whom have exhausted every other medical treatment, which had no/worse effects,) will be thrust back into the hell they came from. Then there are the chronic pain patients, who have been prescribed a mountain of opiates that either leaves them unable to function, or physically addicted & miserable. (Let’s not forget how the DEA has put even more regulations on pain meds, making it nearly impossible for some people to get the relief they deserve, or were prescribed initially.) I could keep going & going. It will hurt so many people.

Who will be saved by this ban? Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Let’s say someone tried to use an absurd amount of kratom to get high. Besides being severely disappointed, (it doesn’t get you high,) they would throw up. That is it. Try it yourself, DEA, since you’re so concerned. Saying somebody can overdose on kratom is as absurd as saying someone could overdose on marijuana.

Why doesn’t the government act like adults & put their foot down? Why do people keep pretending the DEA helps anybody? It’s obvious all their decisions are arbitrary & unscientific. The scheduling system is the most hypocritical system I’ve ever seen. But it’s allowed to continue, & apparently now they can just make things illegal with impunity.

I pray somebody is listening & will stop this. This ban will ruin tens of thousands of lives. People are really losing faith in the American government, & this is why. They don’t care who they hurt, as long as the money train doesn’t stop. Now the DEA gets to put more people in prison & seize more people’s personal property. This ban only helps them. Nobody else. They are a group of criminals disguised as the good guys. But nobody’s falling for the good guy act anymore.

As a scientist, I have been part of research the nearly proves the ability to create further antibiotics. As a citizen I have seen heroin and pill addicts recover from the scourge of opioid and other un-natural drugs consuming parts of our country. People do not go out and commit crimes once using this nor does it cause dependency even as much as coffee. They do not commit crimes in order to get it. I have even seen alcoholics stop drinking with the use of burning it with incense to drive off urges to drink. The substance holds cures for diseases that may not become relevant at this time. The further this is research this the more it will become relevant. We are free adult Americans and this probation is going to push something out of our hands and give organize crime yet – another golden gooses while there is no resin to help productive lives that kratom helps certain people. Once a cure for some debilitating disease can be found and governmental official come down with a disease that kratom research could help, it will be hard very hard to make legal again. Placing it under schedule one will stop most research and direct some to worst drugs. It simply is not taking a large bite out of the pharmaceutical money. It makes no sense. This is not part of remittance and have only see it help people. Moreover, loading up non dangerous substances on schedule one diminishes the drugs such as heroin. The people do not even have a vote on it or allow states to decide. This U.S. government is of and for the people. This stands short of social tyranny. Keep kratom legal will never cause any decline in the U.S. and will always remain available. Stop this ridiculous slippery slope to the point you have to get aspirin from a pain doctor. Simply ponder on the reproductions of alcohol probation. Making this illegal would actually give a “forbidden apple” aspect that will not reduce the use but, indeed, make a desire to get it by people who would never would have used it. It is natural in most aspects, unlike much medicine doctors will prescribe. Just like alcohol, it is not sold to minors. Stop this social control as this is not a nanny state, we are Americans and have the right to use this responsibly. Further, this is NOT a gateway drug. This helps people and does not use only in consuming or smoking it. Placing it in schedule -one diminishes the importance of drugs that should be on schedule one such as heroin. Outlawing kratom will become a disaster that cannot be reversed.

As a scientist, I have been part of research the nearly proves the ability to create further antibiotics. As a citizen I have seen heroin and pill addicts recover from the scourge of opioid and other un-natural drugs consuming parts of our country. People do not go out and commit crimes once using this nor does it cause dependency even as much as coffee. They do not commit crimes in order to get it. I have even seen alcoholics stop drinking with the use of burning it with incense to drive off urges to drink. The substance holds cures for diseases that may not become relevant at this time. The further this is research this the more it will become relevant. We are free adult Americans and this probation is going to push something out of our hands and give organize crime yet – another golden gooses while there is no resin to help productive lives that kratom helps certain people. Once a cure for some debilitating disease can be found and governmental official come down with a disease that kratom research could help, it will be hard very hard to make legal again. Placing it under schedule one will stop most research and direct some to worst drugs. It simply is not taking a large bite out of the pharmaceutical money. It makes no sense. This is not part of remittance and have only see it help people. Moreover, loading up non dangerous substances on schedule one diminishes the drugs such as heroin. The people do not even have a vote on it or allow states to decide. This U.S. government is of and for the people. This stands short of social tyranny. Keep kratom legal will never cause any decline in the U.S. and will always remain available. Stop this ridiculous slippery slope to the point you have to get aspirin from a pain doctor. Simply ponder on the reproductions of alcohol probation. Making this illegal would actually give a “forbidden apple” aspect that will not reduce the use but, indeed, make a desire to get it by people who would never would have used it. It is natural in most aspects, unlike much medicine doctors will prescribe. Just like alcohol, it is not sold to minors. Stop this social control as this is not a nanny state, we are Americans and have the right to use this responsibly. Further, this is NOT a gateway drug. This helps people and does not use only in consuming or smoking it. Placing it in schedule -one diminishes the importance of drugs that should be on schedule one such as heroin. Outlawing kratom will become a disaster that cannot be reversed. Finally, there are other important issues to focus on, the American public does not pay taxes to do this.

I am a 10 year veteran of the United States Navy. I consider myself a patriot and a woman of integrity who has lived an extremely honorable life. I am insulted that the tea I choose to take occasionally for anxiety and depression has painted every day honorable veterans and citizens as common drug users and criminals! I choose a harmless therapeutic tea to take the edge off when needed, like most coffee users do, and live a very functional life. The DEA is not appointed by the people and this country is supposed to work for it’s people. How can such an ignorant government organization have that much power. They shouldn’t. Facts or science do not matter to the DEA, this has been proven for years. How are they not obligated to the same checks and balances of all other branches of government? This is a gross abuse of power manipulated with half truths and blatant lies. Kratom is not addicting or I would not be able to use it only as needed on occasion. It is not anymore addicting than an urge for a cup of coffee or a warm blanket. Addiction runs in my family and I know I’m not immune from it. Also, my husband has used it every day for the past 4 years to manage chronic back pain from a severe injury that had him on prescription opiates, until he found Kratom. Since then, he has lived an extremely functional life and plays with our kids and is present in a way he was never able to be before. Kratom should not be regulated anymore than coffee is and certainly not become a felony! I feel like I’m in a ridiculous dream. Some irresponsible people saw that it could help with opiate withdrawal so they marketed it has a legal high, this doesn’t make it true and I don’t understand why we would ever have to explain that to a government organization. I also can’t believe that we would ever have to explain the just because someone dies with peanut butter and prescription drugs or illegal substances does not mean they died because of peanut butter! There has no been one death associated with kratom alone, that is one of the gross manipulated lies the DEA is trying to sell. Monster Energy drinks and 5 hour energy shots should be scheduled first because they are far more dangerous and have been verified as the result of multiple deaths in this country! If Kratom is heroin then coffee is crack! That’s how logical the DEA is. I hope the CRE is successful in at least getting the DEA to move Kratom to a regular scheduling process because I know, when given the chance, cooler heads will prevail and the scientific data will prove that Kratom is safe and should only be regulated as a health supplement! We are not criminals!

I have been taking kratom for almost two years now.
I am a 22 year old college student that suffered from an addiction to opiates and adderall
Without kratom , I would not even be alive today.
Kratom doesn’t get me high. I’m not a drug addict.
It simply gets me through my day and gives me the energy I need to make it through.
It helped me kick my addiction to pharmaceuticals.
I have been clean for almost two years because of this natural plant.
Please do not ban kratom! It is a miracle plant!

Thank you for this letter. I could not agree more! We need the Leaders in our country to take charge over the DEA and stop them from this because they are taking away our right to freedom! They have based their scheduling on incorrect information and have not given the people of our country time to comment. Please act quickly because many people’s lives depend on Kratom, including mine!

I have been taking Kratom for the last 8 months because i have severe anxiety , PTSD and depression. I have taken pills most my life for my mental health but NOTHING worked like Kratom. These last 8 months i have felt more like myself the ever before! Its a plant thats has numerous medical benefits it has also helped people who have had addiction be able to be free of that addiction and cravings for whatever it was they were addicted to. I asked that you just hear out everyone stories and actually really see that we the people have spoken and we the people believe in this more than we believe in having to take a pill every day. Also this is a great dietary supplement that is 100% all natural. I feel that this is unethical and and downright just dirty for the DEA to take a plant away from us when a plant has caused no problems for them. We live in America and therefore we should be free to make the choice if we want to have a plant over a pill.

Thank you for bringing awareness to this and for being able to let us a part of our story. We ask that you at least hold the band off until July 2017 so we can make the public more aware of the great benefits that this he has for many people With mental, physical and emotional pain. People are getting their lives back and this is a great thing that’s no reason the DEA wants to take this away because I guarantee it will get a lot worse after they do seeing as how good this is helping people. I have been in a wheelchair for three years now and instead of taking the pain pills I much rather take this it makes me a better member of society a better father and a better husband and the pills they made me a zombie didn’t let me be myself and completely took everything away from me. July 2017 let’s get it pushed back to then people at least!

Thank you Mr. Tozzi for your efforts in trying to save the publics use of kratom! I grew up depressed and full of anxiety…due to my terrible childhood. When I was 17 years old I tried to commit suicide. I was put on anti-depressants, which made me sluggish, tired, rude to people, withdrawn from society, and did not aid in my sucidial thoughts. I went off to college and started drinking daily. I decided to take myself off of anti-depressants and just consume a large amount of alcohol. It wasnt until my late twenties that I found kratom and kava. Ever since I discovered this natural way to calm my nerves, I quit alcohol altogether. I am now 33 years old and havent touched alcohol in years. The best part about it is that I have no desire to! I am no longer depressed, full of anxiety, and driving the streets late at night completely intoxicated. Its a miracle that I never killed myself or others driving drunk, and that I have never received a DUI. I have ruined two cars driving drunk. While I have never tried heroin, I have done quite a bit of ecstasy, mushrooms, and cocaine (in my days of drinking). Kratom is NOTHING like those drugs. Doctors used to give patients ecstasy in the 70’s, and some psychologists still give patients mushrooms! Alcohol is a completely legal drug, and yet people kill themselves and others daily by consuming it. Cigarettes kill people all of the time, and yet a young 18 year old child can buy them! While “on kratom” you can drive, you are clear headed, you are a productive member of society, and you rid yourself of anxiety and pain. It is in the coffee family for crying out loud. Big pharma wants to keep people sick and addicted to drugs in order to keep profiting off of the many citizens who are suffering. If the government wants to regulate like they do marijuana, fine. But to put it in the category of heroin just because it releases some receptors is ridiculous and absurd! I really hope all our efforts pay off, especially for all the consumers who drink kratom for serious issues, such as arthritis and fibromyalgia, etc etc etc etc. Thanks to everyone who sees this issue (even non kratom users) and is putting their efforts in to keep the Schedule 1 from happening!

This leaf has overwhelming medicinal value as the 4 patents on it’s alkaloids prove. Making this a Schedule 1 drug on September 30, or at any time for that matter, will create a health crisis as well as overload the judicial systems locally. Much focus has been on the opiate epidemic but kratom has been successfully used to counteract it and saved many lives already. This little non-synthetic leaf is a helpful tool and should never be banned. I’m all for some sort of regulation, approval as a NDI would be terrific, or following suit as some states have by adding an age requirement. We cannot afford to make the devastating mistake of prohibition with this amazing leaf.

It’s really sad and disheartening that we as free people aren’t allowed to make a personal choice to use an herbal, natural supplement to deal with a variety of ailments from pain to addiction to anxiety and so on, the large percentage of people using kratom aren’t looking for anything to abuse or for recreation, we’re looking for something to increase our quality of life that is a safe and healthy alternative to more dangerous and debilitating pharmaceutical drugs, it’s impossible for me to believe that kratom is being banned for public health and safety concerns, it really destroys my faith in my governments desire to do what’s best for its people as this decision seems only to benefit a select handful of people that will profit from this plant being banned, please please reconsider this decision and at least do some honest research before making this rash decision that will hurt so many thousands of good honest people in need…

I am 44 years old, married and a mother of 3. Kratom has literally saved my life. I am an opiate addict suffering from ptsd, anxiety, and depression. I also have physical ailments that require me to be on pain killers the rest of my life. I have been on every psychiatric drug under the sun, and nothing helped me. I started trying kratom about 3 months ago. The effects were overwhelming. I am talkative, not depressed, and am able to leave my house. As far as the pain goes, i have minimal pain, and am able to clean and hang with my kids. Kratom has made me a better person and gives me the ability to live a normal life. I am blessed, and frankly am scared to death of what’s going to happen if its banned.

I have been fighting Lyme disease, toxic poisioning, lead poisioning , and mold. Since 2011 I wasn’t able to get out of the bed without help. My body hurt to touch. I started KRATOM 6 months ago and I can now do things for myself. Without KRATOM there is no way I could survive. I have tried everything from the doctors and nothing helped. KRATOM is something that is helping people like me and we can not survive without this. Me and my husband which served the military for 27 years in the Infantry can not figure out why the DEA would find this to be a drug. This helps people with pain, it does not make anyone high! I could understand if it was a drug that hurt people. But this is not a drug and it helps people like me.

I am a 34 year old mother of three children under the age of 5. I have a Master’s Degree in education and undergrad in Finance. I fully support the use of Kratom because I believe it is a safe and very effective alternative to harmful medications. My father (who was a Vietnam Vet and Purple Heart recipient) passed away a year and a half ago. I blame myself for not researching alternative medicines for him, as I watched him suffer in the last few years of his life. Much of it was due to the illnesses he acquired while at war. He was 100% disabled. But what was even more difficult, was watching him deteriorate (especially mentally), because of the cocktail of prescription medications they kept pushing on him. If I had only researched more on the medicinal benefits of Kratom, I could have at least prolonged the quality of his life. The Kratom plant has been around for thousands of years in other countries, and there is not one solid reported death on Kratom ALONE. The 15 deaths that the DEA reports, have all been mixed with hard drugs or harmful prescription medications. Tylenol is essentially more dangerous than the Kratom plant. Here are some other facts that I hope you choose to read so that we can spread factual knowledge rather than speculation:

· Kratom is a tree native to Southeast Asia, whose leaves have been used as a natural medicine for thousands of years.
· In small doses it provides an energy boost – it’s a botanical cousin of coffee, but in higher doses have a sedative and analgesic (pain relieving) effect
· Its main use is as an effective natural pain reliever and anti-depressant
· Hundreds of testimonials have been written about kratom’s efficacy in treating:
chronic pain, diabetes, fatigue, depression, lack of energy, withdrawal symptoms of opiate and alcohol addiction
· Users report that it is “less addictive than coffee”, with those in middle-age being
the most frequent and enthusiastic proponents of kratom’s benefits.

This age-old medicine is being lumped in with dangerous, unknown synthetic substances, and is under threat of criminalization. If this criminalization occurs, countless sufferers of illness and pain could lose access to a vital natural remedy that they have been using safely for years. Like any plant or medicine, when one regularly ingests excessive amounts of a substance there is a potential for harm. This is true of countless products available for sale in pharmacies and liquor stores today, but few would argue that this means they should be outlawed. If kratom is abused – taken daily in very high doses – it can be mildly addictive, and can also cause “nervousness, sleeplessness, loss of libido, constipation and the darkening of skin complexion”. However, there have been no recorded deaths due to the use of kratom, which highlights its safety.

Public health should be not seen through a lens so narrow that it that disregards practically all alternatives to Western medicine and pharmaceutical drugs. We call upon citizens, policymakers, and politicians to support the reform of archaic drug policy for the benefit of society, and to respect people’s innate right to use all natural plants and herbs.

Thank you for your time and my prayer is that you help join the fight to regulate not prohibit the use of this natural herbal tea.

This decision to schedule kratom is unconstitutional, without due process using information that is without merit. I am a retired LEO / EOD tech that has found relief in kratom from anxiety, depression and PTSD for 6 years now without incident. I do not understand how taking a plant away from Americans that it is helping makes any sense other then to line the pockets of big pharma. Oxycotin takes tens of thousands of lives each year but that’s an FDA approved drug so it’s OK. We the people for the people by the people mean very little to this government we currently have. When will we learn this is not a war on drugs. This is a war on people. This president protects the land and waters but cares less about me . When will my voice be heard? What do we have to do to be heard?

Thank you Mr. Tozzi! There should absolutely be a delay in the scheduling so that the American public and researchers can weigh in. That is the American way is it not? This is a democracy right? There is no imminent public health crisis. American citizens who will be affected by this should have the right to voice their opinion.

How can u possibly take Mother Nature away from any American.
I thought it was the land of the free.
Kratom is saving lives.,on a daily basis and by you taking away kratom you will literally be killing people.any suffering endured by anyone because of this is totally uncalled for.

Than you Mr. Tozzi! Ever since finding out about this potential ban my thoughts have been eclipsed by worry and a sense of impending doom. My options will be to either become a felon, go back to treatments that not only didn’t help me but hurt me, or suffer with pain and debilitating depression and anxiety. I am a home-owner, tax-paying, law-abiding citizen and I implore the powers that be to reconsider this “rush to judgement” about Kratom. It will mean death and destruction to many of us for this gentle herb from nature to be banned as schedule 1.

Thank you! This ban will make so many go back to what they were running away from. Pain, addiction, it is frightening to even imagine at this point! There is just in my opinion no good reason for it to be even happening other than money. Thank you for your support.

Please Take action immediately!! Kratom has improved the quality of my life by 200% before kratom I was bed ridden for weeks at a time, I couldn’t work, wanted to die, and my marriage was in jeopardy. With 4 years of daily kratom use I’ve gone back to work, my marriage is awesome, I love life, and I can get in the floor or ground and play with my 23 month old boy. Please don’t let the DEA take that away from us.

after visiting China, kratom is as common as white bread. that’s when I put it together, the country is thriving, the people are content, everyone medicates with kratom and they are so successful. we are so scared of the unknown and of others finding their potential. you have now put kratom in the spotlight, you have now created potential for everyone. thank you.

incarcerating thousands of people for consuming Earth.. what have we become. we will be heard, we will not give up. Next we should look into coffee.. as kratom is as common.

Dear Sir or Madam,
Please don’t let the DEA make Kratom a Schedule 1 drug.
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

This is not true for Kratom, it has been shown numerous times in reports from users to help, treat pain, combat depression and anxiety, recovering Opiate addicts and much more.

Deaths that involve Kratom being a persons’ system have always been from the result of mixing Kratom with other drugs, rather than Kratom alone. In states that banned Kratom, Alabama specifically, opiate usage and deaths went up after Kratom was banned in the state. Please stop the DEA from scheduling Kratom as Schedule I, there are many people who will suffer from this.

Yes there has been an increase in Kratom usage; however the users are typically mature adults using the leaf for pain management, and other medicinal uses. I am 50 years old and use it to ease the pain and fatigue associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Before Kratom I could barely get through my work week and I would just sleep through the weekends. Since I have been using Kratom I am thriving at work, still have energy after work, exercise and enjoy activities on the weekends.

I am 53 years old,mother of 3,grandmother of one.I suffer from Neuro-Muscular disease,autoimmune disease and Collagenous Colitis.I am in constant pain with a limited ability of walking and even using my arms.I have been under doctors care for 6 years.I am prescribed narcotic pain meds.I am fortunate to not have addiction issues.With that being said,he meds prescribed only help minimally and I will not drive my vehicle while taking them.That leaves me stuck at home,in pain and missing out on life.They also greatly dull my mental state,I do not feel joy,happiness,I just don’t feel at all.In early June 2016 I tried kratom for the first time(after extensive research)Within 15 minutes I felt like the “old me”,I could even walk better and my pain was totally controlled!I cried,I was clear headed,alert and content for the first time in years!This botanical supplement has brought me back to life!My disease will progress,my pain will get even worse.For now with Kratom I have a quality of life I never thought was attainable!Please keep Kratom Legal,my life depends on it.If you ban this,I will be forced back on opiate pain meds,confined to home and most days confined to bed.

Kratom has been a life changer for me. I should be on antidepressants and ADD medicine but I refuse to put any more pharmaceuticals in my body after being a pill head for over a decade. This wonderful plant helps me to be more stable. To have more energy. To be more focused. To be more like the old me before drugs.

please… please don’t take my quality of life away from me. don’t make me into a criminal. the doctors of this country put me on SSRI (anxiety/depression) after a routine check up, and after weened off the meds, the brain zaps and pain in my neck never went away. with my responsible kratom usage, I have self medicated into what use to be my life. and on top of it, I’ve been promoted to a supervisor of the job I almost left, and have now taken liberty of making a better, safer work environment for all within. I’m no longer lost and confused. Coffee doesn’t have the same effect on me after SSRIs, kratom brought that back for me. God bless, as I’m a 29yr old who has became a much better person.

In light of the FACT that you can easily look up literally hundreds of substances which have been ingested and which are household items, which indeed can make you intoxicated to poisoned or even cause death, I struggle with the fact I can buy gold flake spray paint at Hobby Lobby and then go behind the store, with paper bag, and get completely high from it. Yet, no one stops paint from being sold, albeit in some cities there are signs posted “No one under 18 may by spray paint” which is completely ineffective. As well, I can buy model paint AND glue–the same exact kind used in the 1970’s that hundreds of young people used to get stoned without any restrictions. As well, I can buy whipped cream in cans. I can snort all the “air” out of them and become intoxicated from those fumes as well. How many HUNDREDS of these cases are reported to the police, fire departments, and poison control? Yet all of these “safe” products remain on the market and of which teenagers can buy at Walmart.

If you do not know something about something, you investigate it. Firsthand. No “hearsay” or otherwise. That is not what is happening with this DEA ban. As a pastor and counselor who not only used kratom to get off my pain medications but as well has counseled dozens to use it for their relief from chronic pain–including my own mother (73 years old), I also find it distasteful that there are comments from LEO and otherwise in our government making it look like anyone who has used or is using kratom is a back alley addict looking to get stoned.

That is NOT the case for hundreds, if not thousands. To implement this ban will not only hurt people but turn them against the very government that says it needs to “protect the public”. It is misguided and the more this goes on, the angrier I am about it. It must stop.

Please, for the sake of not only those who have so much to lose with their health and even their livelihoods if their health is downgraded, postpone the ban until the kratom can be examined and proper regulations can be put into place. I am certainly not opposed to making sure I can buy unadulterated kratom anymore than I want to buy clean sugar or flour for baking. But to ban something because there are a few who abuse it–in the same manner as paint or glue–defies logic.

I’m 21 years old, living in St. Pete, Florida. I suffer from a disease called Endometriosis, in which the tissue similar to the lining of your uterus grows throughout your body, specifically your pelvic area. I started having pain when I was 20, about a year ago. The sporadic pain progressed into daily and debilitating pain. I couldn’t really do anything, as I was in pain all the time every single day. My doctor said we could do surgery, but wanted me to try a medication first to see if it would work. Nothing helped my pain. Not wanting to take narcotics as a 20 year old full time student with two jobs, I just let the pain take me down while trying to keep up with work and school.

After joining a Facebook group for chronic Endometriosis pain, I found someone talking about kratom. This woman said it’s the only thing that’s ever touched her pain, and she’d tried everything from ibuprofen to narcotics. I googled Kratom, and was luckily enough to have multiple kratom tea bars near me. I ordered a kratom tea, and that night was the first time I was pain free in a long time. I finally wasn’t thinking about how much pain I was in, and when it would end. I was able to even just watch a movie with my family and not be anxious about what I can do to stop my pain.

Thankfully, I’ve had my surgery and have felt better lately. But kratom was the only thing that ever helped my pain.

I can’t imagine what I would have done without it. Don’t make people resort back to heavy, addictive pain killers.

I have Lyme disease, arthritis and sciatica. I feel as a well educated adult I should have the option to choose how I manage my health. I am also a recovering addict who knows the harms of pharmaceuticals. I take my kratom and do yoga and mountain bike, without kratom I would be on pills and risking addiction. I feel this is way too much. All my friends who lived and know that we are older and have aches and pain use kratom. If this plant is banned who will be responsible for the deaths caused by the pills? How many have died in the states that have recently banned kratom? Think about that.

They need to think about the negative outcomes this will provide when the ban goes into effect. Sales of prescription pain medication will go up along with the sale of illegal natcotics on the street. Misuse and abuse of legal and illegal narcotics will go up and the overdoses and deaths will skyrocket. Now when the rest of the country ask why this is happening, we will know where to point the finger, at the DEA and the in action of our elected leaders for their disregard to he welfare of the American people.

After 20 years of experiencing undiagnosed joint pain, swelling and redness, I found Kratom to help with the pain and the depression that came with it. A friend of mine who also has a condition that causes chronic pain told me how Kratom helped her. I use to take the max dose of Ibuprofen during flare ups that sometimes lasted weeks. I became nervous of the effects the Ibuprofen was having on my body when I started to have stomach problems every time I took the Ibuprofen. As a result of being in pain, being a mom of three beautiful daughters, a wife and owning and operating 5 separate businesses I became very fatigued and would sleep any time I could fit it in. My doctor prescribed me Ibuprofen for the pain and Prozac for the depression. I have been taking Kratom for the past two years and I am able to function normally and I have the energy I need to be a mom, a wife and a business woman. Kratom allowed me to stop the ibuprofen and cut back on the Prozac (which has horrible side effects) I hoped to wean myself off of the Prozac entirely with Kratom and I fear if Kratom is made a schedule 1 drug my quality of life will slide back to where it was before and I cannot help but be emotional about it.

I’ve have served Kratom tea for over a decade a million times in my business without incident. I appreciate you looking into this matter, it is so important to so many. They are silencing the people and ignoring science. If they have such a strong case against Kratom use the proper due process! Because, the truth is no one is dying from Kratom and they would loose!

My husband is a boss at a very stressful & demanding job. It leaves him anxious, long after he gets home from work. Therefore, he used to have a beer after work to relax. Over time, my husband’s beer to relax after work turned into full blown alcoholism. In turn, he got very abusive. My husband normally is a sweet, loving, caring man. But give him some alcohol, & he turns into a hateful psychopath. Our marriage was all but over. He was very depressed, afraid of alcohol withdrawals, but he wanted to stop.

After other avenues were little help, I found him kratom. I finally had my husband back! He is back to normal, with no desire to drink anymore. We went to counseling, reconnected, didn’t fight anymore. It was more than I could have ever hoped for. Our family was healing spectacularly. Our kids are happier than ever.

This ban petrifies me. If he goes back to drinking, I will have no choice but to get a divorce & keep our children away from him. This ban won’t help a single person, but will destroy so many lives.

The DEA & the government will have blood on their hands if this ban goes through.

My name is Kerry, I’m a 31 year old man from Wisconsin. I am an Advanced-EMT and have worked in the medical field for 10 years.

I’d like to voice my opposition to the DEA’s Intent to Schedule the alkaloids Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, which would make Kratom (Mitragynaspeciosa), a schedule 1 controlled substance with no medicinal value. This would put kratom, a plant helping millions of people suffering chronic and acute mental and physical conditions that is also safely easing the nation’s opiate epidemic problem naturally, on the same level as illegal drugs like heroin. It would also prevent further research which, to date, has shown kratom to be an effective painkiller that does not cause respiratory depression; the main cause of death from opiate overdose.

I had been using Kratom as needed for mild pain relief of a herniated disc of the L5 vertebrae, and related sciatica. It was subtle, yet effective enough to allow me to stay diligent to an exercise regimen so my body would heal the bulged disc. This plain, simple, natural leaf was simply a wonderful healing plant and gave me a better quality of life that I could not obtain using otc medications and other forms of medication therapy. Unfortunately several months ago Kratom, or rather two of its compounds, “Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine” were mistakenly added to a list of “synthetic drugs” in a piece of WI state legislation that was supposed to ban “synthetic drugs”. To reiterate, Kratom is a natural leaf, it is NOT synthetic in anyway. Since the WI ban went into effect I have been suffering with a lesser quality of life because the man-made treatments available just don’t compare. Kratom is a safe alternative to pharmaceutical drugs with important medicinal uses and had changed my life. I’m asking you to please contact the DEA. Please send a letter or request an oversight hearing asking to delay this emergency action. I fear this action by the DEA will only lead to more tragic deaths of victims of the opiate epidemic, and lesser quality of life for people that just want a natural way to deal with myriad symptoms f many diseases and injuries. I know that my own quality of life as a productive member of society will not be the same without kratom.

The federal ban will also effectively turn hundreds of thousands of otherwise hard working, productive, law abiding people into criminals overnight. The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world – largely due to the war on drugs. It has to stop.

There will most definitely be a black market. People are using this herb to survive and prosper! We are using it to control pain with a CLEAR mind when opioids fogged it. I can’t imagine going back to methadone. To being disabled and unable to hold a job. Kratom allows me to live. The Kratom ban is a death sentence for me. When faced with life or death, people will do what it takes to survive, Please don’t let the DEA take our lives away by banning this helpful herb! Please have mercy on those suffering…

I am a 58 year old grandmother who takes Kratom to ease the pain of migraines and degenerative disc disease. I do not take it to get”high”, but just to get through my 12 hour work day. Thank you, CRE for all you are doing.

Thank you, CRE. I take kratom to help with debilitating pain that I’ve had since April of 2001, from a car accident. Please do not let the government take a harmless plant from the people due to greed. We pay our taxes, in fact, have been able to get off public assistance. Please give us our freedom back.

Thank you for questioning the DEA decision to make kratom a class 1 drug. I would like to tell you my story about finding kratom and what it has done for me. I am 47 years old and about 7 years ago I woke up not being able to turn my head, my neck was in terrible pain so I made an appointment with my family DR……. That was the beginning to my nightmare, within 1 year I had become bedridden due to extreme pain , exhaustion, bizarre skin rashes and a burning sensation over most of my body. My Dr. gave me different medications to try to ease my body and before I knew it , I was taking over 400 pills a month and feeling worse everyday. It’s bad enough when you feel like death but adding MANY side effects from meds, I was at the end of my rope. 1 !/2 years I had a nice lady tell me about a leaf on a tree that grew in S.E. Asia and how it relieved most of her pain due to fibromyalgia , (the same illness I was diagnosed with) I tried some kratom and it was SHOCKING!!!!! After I took some kratom I noticed my pain level was from an 8 to a 2. I didn’t feel like groggy or impaired but I fely normal for the 1st time in 5 1/2 years. My family was amazed that I was out of bed and participating in life for the 1st time in years. I stated feeling so much better that I didn’t need or want most of the medications that had become my daily routine. I now play with my grandchildren and I’m able to go outside and garden and the most important part was, I was able to be a wife and mother to my family again. I went from over 400 pills to maybe 30 a month. Please consider my story to explain what kratom has done for me and my family. I’m still dealing with fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue but kratom gave me hope to be able to participate in life and have dreams once again. Thank you.

There is a lot I could say, but the bottom line is that if this plant is made illegal, it will only hurt both current patients and medical science. We need research. In the absence of research the DEA is making assertions that cannot be scientifically proven or disproven. It is abundantly clear from the public outcry that this plant has tremendous medicinal value.

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi, for your well-written letter. I agree completely and I hope the ban will be extended for research purposes. This herb is helping too many people who would otherwise be taking addictive pain pills. I’ve read posts from vets, people who could not function on a daily basis without it, etc., and this herb has helped them immensely. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know!

I’m a 47 year old mom who was diagnosed in 2003 with fibromyalgia. Within a year of that my dr had me on morphine, fentanyl, Vicodin and trampoline. I was a disaster and after going my whole life without any addiction issues I was hooked on opiates. I hated that and wound up on sub ozone, thinking things were going to be so much better. On one hand they were, I never needed a higher dose so I thought I was alright. But some 6 years later I got so tired of just being another patient that was always having to go for refills each month and I just felt judged and stuck. I tried kratom during a period of time when my doc said my new prescription would be available on the Friday I needed it but when I went to pick it up it wasn’t there and the doc was out of the office and so I was about to face a hellish weekend. The kratom not only got me through that weekend but it helped so much that I decided to just quit the sub altogether. I have been off suboxone now for 11 months. I wake up in the morning, drink my kratom tea and I have energy. I’m not in pain and I’m happy without being under any sort of a high, without my functioning being compromised whatsoever. Kratom has been a miracle for myself and my family. Banning kratom doesn’t help anyone but the pharmaceutical companies. They want us high and happy and addicted to their drugs. The kratom community as a whole doesn’t want their drugs! All they do is lead to more addiction, more overdoses and more lost families.

Thank you so much for looking into this!
My husband and I consume the tea, kratom, to help with depression, anxiety and pain. My husband worked in hard construction for 36 years, which resulted in his rotator cuff in the right shoulder and his spine is compacted onto iteslf. He ended up being permanently disabled. His Drs put him on tramadol and vicoden. He became heavily addicted to these medications because in order to treat the pain, the dosage was increased by his drs. After becoming addicted to these and needing to get off the the pain meds, the drs offered him a solution. That solution was suboxone. This ended badly. He was on suboxone for 1 year. He was dying from the side effects. My husband lost so much weight that he was “skin and bones” and had severe stomach problems. We were desperate. He went into a 40 day treatment program to get off of suboxone. When he returned home, it became evident that the meds the drs had him on had damaged his brain (this is what we believe happened, although we have no scientific proof). He was so severely depressed over the next three years. The drs put him on many many different antidepressants, but none worked. After 3 years, I had become depressed too (50% of people who live with a depressed partner end up succumbing to the deaseas ) Last year we found the kratom tea. It worked! Drinking a cup of tea every morning gave us both our lives back. Kratom alleviates my husband’s pain, depression and anxiety….all from one cup of tea. My depression has also been alleived. We both have our lives back from being able to drink this tea. We are able to be involved in our absolutely amazing granddaughter’s life! This has been a huge turning point in our lives. We were not able to be productive in any sense of the word before we found kratom. We are so grateful for it. If kratom is banned, I will be okay, as my depression can be treated with antidepressants (I’m not currently on antidepressants but I can take them, if kratom is banned.). However, there’s no pharmaceutical meds that help my husband’s anxiety and depression. And, of course, he can’t take pharmaceutical pain meds because of their highly addictive qualities and that a person has to keep upping the dose for the meds to work woth pain….so those are not an option. I’m extremely worried that my husband will not survive the ban of kratom, if it’s banned. He will be in so much pain and his depression and anxiety will be in full force. I’m worried sick that he may take his own life. Please don’t allow kratom to be banned. It’s a plant that works and has no side-effects for us at all. Thank you for listening.

I became addicted to oxycontin (and other opioids) at the age of 19.. I went to an in patient rehab and two outpatient rehabs, but upon leaving those places, I fell right back into the addiction to those same pharmaceuticals.. I took extensive measures and went to a methadone clinic for three years, and then I realized I needed to get off of the methadone next (which was just as difficult to ween myself off of). I then met a wonderful person who got me to try kratom for the first time.. I want looking for a high, just some comfort from withdrawal symptoms. The kratom helped tremendously without any “high” or euphoric effects. I have been clean from pain pills since June 27,2013 and clean from methadone now since May 12, 2016.

Thank you Mr. Tozzi and the CRE for allowing the public to be heard. My story is similar to many posted here. I am a 56 year old male with chronic pain from Sciatic nerve damage and a degenerative disc. I was put on a myriad of pain killers, physical therapy and also on my own volition alternative therapies such as acupuncture and tens therapy. As time passed my prescriptions were adjusted to higher dosages to the point that my life was based on a 3hr schedule of pills. I work as a stone restorationist which requires focus, mental clarity and physicality. My doctors essentially said that the best thing to do was to walk away from a service business that took decades to build. I started really thinking about the quality of life (which was exacerbated from the medication as most led to a side effect of suicidal thoughts or tendencies.)
After someone mentioned kratom at one of many of my pain management groups, I researched this alternative for 3 months and hesitantly acquired the product. No pain, no side effects and a clarity that I once had before the medications.After 3 years my dosage remains the same, I have no urge or feeling of having to take more and my business is back up to what it was before the downward spiral of prescription pills.
Now with this ban I will have to once again start the prescription pills and the pain will follow..But my pain is not just for me, it’s for those that are going through opiate withdrawal and having found what might be an opportunity out of that downward spiral, the young people that have found new life and hope with this natural plant… that’s what hurts the most.
I agree regulatory rules should be put in place. that this should be made an 18+ product and that the synthesized enhanced product needs to be taken off the market. But to throw this on a schedule1 to be locked up amongst this opiate epidemic that our country is in seems ludicrous.

Hello and thank you for reading this letter. I am a kratom user that woukdnt be here today to help raise my beautiful toung son. This plant has leterally and effectively saved my life. I am an ex addict who battled with addiction for years. I wish i would have come accross this plant years ago because the quality of life i enjoy now could have come years,ago without addiction getting in the way. My addiction started with doctor prescribed pain pills like a lot of people. Had i been able to take kratom for my pain years,ago my life would have gone a conpletely different direction. This is a miracle plant that needs to stay legal and available to people who suffer. If everyone in the world took kratom i truly believe there would be less violence and we would move positively and swiftly into a peaceful future. Thank you for letting me share. God bless..

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi, for hearing our voices and speaking on our behalf. This is the letter I had written for the DEA and any elected officials that might be able to stop this ban.
I am a 54 year old female, mother of 2 homeschooled children now in college, former high school science teacher, human rights activist and animal rescuer. I have suffered with chronic pain and fatigue, migraines, depression and anxiety for over 30 years. I have had PTSD/panic attacks added to that list after battling my daughter’s life-threatening disease for the past 8 years.

At the age of 14, I began self-medicating myself with alcohol and whatever drugs I could get my hands on, for what would be the next 18 years. The alcohol and drugs eased my pain, but I am lucky to have survived those years. I knew that I never wanted to be a mother under the influence of drugs or alcohol, so I quit all of it cold turkey on October 23, 1993. I have never used since. The next year I had my first child and the chronic fatigue and pain and debilitating migraines (from what would later be diagnosed as fibromyalgia) made it hard to be the kind of mom I wanted to be. I averaged at least 60 days a year completely lost to this illness, days where I could not get up and my toddler would have to call my husband home from work.

I spent the next 20 years desperately trying to find something that would help me without further impairing me. The depression and guilt from being in bed was just too much, so I would force myself to get up and do things, but was miserable underneath. As I got older, and my kids got older, my search for something that would help me with my symptoms became more about finding something that would eventually work for my kids, as they were beginning to exhibit the same symptoms as well.

9 months ago, I stumbled across the plant called kratom on the internet. I had tried so many things over the years, that it was hard for me to get my hopes up. But the testimonies of hundreds of people sparked my interest and ironically, when I saw that it had been banned in 5 states already my first thought was ‘Hmmm, maybe thus stuff really works’ and despite some reports of possible dangers I decided listen to the hundreds of testimonials stating otherwise and gave it a try. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

But you know what? It worked! Within 15 minutes of consuming kratom, I felt wonderful! Not drugged, not high, not impaired in any way. Just pain-free! Anyone who has suffered from chronic pain knows how that feeling is better than any high! But with it comes the fear of the pain coming back. Kratom is not a cure for my illness, there is no known cure. What it is, is something that takes away my pain, safely and naturally and affordably. It is something that helps me be productive. It is something that allows me to focus on the things I need to be doing to improve my health, like exercising, preparing healthy meals, getting enough sleep. In addition to the pain-relief, it also has helped tremendously with my depression and anxiety. It is the first thing that has ever worked like this, without any negative side-effects. I have never had any withdrawal on days that I don’t take it. What I have is just the return of the pain that I had everyday for the past 30 years before I discovered kratom.

To wake up one morning and find out that this amazing plant will now be a Schedule 1 substance and no longer available, after so many years of searching to find this miracle treatment, is beyond devastating! The very thought that I could go to prison for treating my pain with a completely safe and natural plant is mind-boggling. And as the past few weeks have gone by, and I have seen the hundreds of stories shared by others who have been saved by kratom, I am deeply saddened and completely ashamed of my government! I am so scared for those who will return to prescription opiates or heroin. I have talked with people who would rather end their lives than return to those days of addiction. I am terrified to wake up on September 30th to find out that they are gone.

Please, listen to the stories that these hundreds of people are sharing with you, they speak for 1000’s (probably 100’s of thousands actually). Listen to the voices of the thousands of people who are telling you they do not want a safe herbal treatment criminalized. Please do not turn the long list of disabled vets, cancer patients, moms, dads, grandparents, college students, and prescription opiate and heroin addicts that are finally turning their lives around, into criminals. If you truly care about getting people off of dangerous drugs and back to productive lives, please reconsider this decision and leave kratom legal as it should be.

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi. Kratom has saved my life and gave me a chance to live again. Since taking Kratom, my chronic illness and the symptoms of the disease, have been under control. Please do not allow this ban to take place! Kratom allowed me to return to work and complete a completely new education. I fear that if this plant is banned, a lot of good people are going to suffer at the hands of those who are supposed to be for us. I respectfully ask that the ban, at minimum, be postponed ask requested. Respectfully, Dennis Alan

My history that led up to kratom, from a medication called tramadol. I got this for pain in my anke from an injury couple years before. Yet, at the time it was labeled as “unadictive”. I battled with that medication for pretty long time before I found a dr that prescribed me something called “subutex”. This is a ” my opinion”, a treatment medication used to get
people off of other painkillers and addictive medications, but should only be used for a week or 2 to ween off the other meds. My dr. Prescribed it to me my medication indefinately, along with 5 other meds, 4 otal were controlled substances. That dr. Lost his medical license soon after and I had no way to get meds that were prescribed to me, all starting with an injury to my ankle, 2 surgical pins, and some malpractice. I went through very tough withdrawals, then, I learned about kratom. Kratom got me off prescription meds, kratom helped me with my anxiety, kratom helped me with my anxiousness, my siezures, agoraphobia, insomnia…everything.

I’m a 53 year old ex construction worker. 9 years ago I started the search for an herbal alternative to opiate painkillers to alleviate symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis, a botched back surgery (which had me addicted to pharmaceutical pain killers for 4 months before surgery and 3 months after) spinal stenosis and clinical depression after the death of our twin boys.

My Dr. wanted me to go to a pain management specialist who would have set me up with a cocktail of opiates. He also wanted me to start taking an SSRI for the crushing depression. At the time, I was a vegan so an herbal approach to treating my problems was far more appealing to me and fit better with my lifestyle.

Back then, Kratom was much harder to find, only a handful of online vendors carried the herb. We joined some ethnobotanical forums and read all we could before taking the plunge. Kratom proved to be just what we had been looking for. It took care of my pain issues better than opiates, effectively providing analgesic relief without the stupefying, incapacitating side effects. It also reduced my anxiety issues and poked holes through the depressive veil that had been smothering my psyche.

Since using Kratom, not only have I avoided opiates but my blood pressure has dropped to the point where I don’t need meds for it. It’s also an immune system builder. Only 2 colds in the last 8 years as opposed to twice a year before. As a surprise bonus, I no longer crave alcohol and can actually drink 2 beers and walk away satisfied….that is, when I want to drink. I drink less alcohol in a year now than I used to drink in 2 weeks.

9 years of Kratom: no long term health effects, pain relief without pharmaceuticals, lowered blood pressure, boosted immune system and no desire to drink alcohol. Never a documented death attributable to this leaf and now the DEA wants a ban…..why? My only guess is that the pharmaceutical companies fear more people discovering how many of their drugs can dispensed with if use of this herb becomes more widespread.

With the opiate abuse epidemic in the US now, you would think that the DEA would at least give this plant a harder look instead of trying to circumvent due process and scheduling it out of the reach of medical research.

What happens when that ban takes effect? Me and the wife, we’ll just tough it out, probably try to find another ethnobotanical that hopefully works half as well as Kratom. Other people? Some will do the same, many will return to the pharmaceutical slave master they thought they had escaped and others will turn to the streets and the dealers will pick up a few more customers………and so will the morgue.

I am writing to voice my opposition to the DEA’s ill-advised decision to schedule kratom on an “emergency” basis. First, let me say that I have worked in law enforcement on the state level for over a decade. I have never, in all of that time, seen or heard of anyone overdosing on kratom, or even driving under the influence of it. Believe me, we have a ton of overdoses that involve real drugs– including ones scheduled at lower levels than what the DEA is proposing for kratom. Secondly, we all know that the cartels are looking for new drug trafficking opportunities now that legalized marijuana in a number of states has cut into their marijuana trade. Right now, they’ve been focusing on prescription pills. I suspect that once they learn that there is suddenly a black market for a plant that hundreds of thousands of people used until the DEA removed that option, they will jump on that right away. Some parts of Mexico and bordering countries may well have the climate to grow kratom trees, and if they do not, the cartels will no doubt begin smuggling kratom leaves in from Southeast Asia. Many thousands of people will die at the hands of the cartels, and the fault will lie solely with the DEA. This is a foolish decision. Those of us in law enforcement know that there is no emergency, at least not when it comes to kratom. The real emergency is with heroin and fentanyl, not some plant from Asia that’s basically a glorified version of coffee.

Thank you Mr Tozzi, I’m a Mother of 2 and a law abiding citizen of this great nation and I’m terribly worried about this intent to ban Kratom as it has helped me with my chronic pain for almost 2 years with no impairment or ill effects. It’s absolutely wonderful. It been important for me to be available to my family in a productive and responsible way.. Kratom helps me do that every day.. Please keep Kratom Legal.

A ban on kratom would do nothing more than criminalize upstanding citizens, force people to interact with the black market, and create widespread suffering and death among addicts and chronic pain patients. I am the latter, and refuse to bend to this cognitive dissonance: how is an innocuous plant that has helped me function for the last two years, suddenly a dangerous substance that renders me a candidate to be kidnapped for ransom? By which of course, I mean being arrested for kratom possession, incarcerated, and forced to pay bail and fines. Let me say again- I am a chronic pain patient. If they wanted to flex their muscles. and come for me- I would be a medical emergency in their jail in under four hours, for certain; I truly do not understand how inflicting mental and physical trauma on people with chronic pain is going to do ANYTHING to protect American people. That’s a huge problem- this ban protects literally no one, but endangers countless hundreds of thousands. Pain sufferers who use kratom as part of a routine to manage pain will suddenly be driven back out of the workforce; I know certainly that when i am bereft of kratom, my job will become untenable. We will lose our ability to keep our houses clean, our children clean and fed and entertained, our lives organized. Living with chronic pain is already darn near impossible, what good is being done for ANYONE by banning a harmless herb that some say helps them with pain? We have taken the onus upon ourselves to do our own research, take our own risks- and we have discovered through our due diligence that kratom is safe, effective, and full of salubrious effects. Those of us who use kratom have the following in common: we have some sort of disability that keeps us from living normal lives, which of course we want to do, so we use kratom as part of a routine that allows us to approach normalcy. Nothing illicit, nothing dangerous. We are mothers, grandmothers, brothers, nurses, lawyers, caregivers, waitresses, health inspectors- we are everybody, and we are only able to be the things that we are because we incorporate kratom into a healthful routine that allows us to function like able-bodied people. Scheduling kratom has too many consequences and no benefits whatsoever.

I am a 51 year old chronic pain sufferer. I have had spinal surgery and have a plate and screws in my spine. I have multiple discs that are in terrible shape but I don’t want my entire spine fused. I have been given all kinds of pain meds. We all know they are bad for our bodies and cause other issues, but the doctors keep pushing them to help manage the pain. I found Kratom about five months ago and haven’t taken a pain pill since. The Kratom helps me to go to work every day and have a normal life. Please do your research in this plant. There is no justification to label this as a Schedule 1 drug!

Thank you Mr. Tozzi. I am a former RN, having had to retire early due to fibromyalgia and arthritis. After twenty years of managing my symptoms with prescription opiates I finally was introduced to Kratom two years ago. While I continue to have symptoms and an occasional flare up I get much better management of my symptoms with Kratom than from anything the pharmaceutical industry has to offer. As a side bonus of that I do not suffer the awful side effects I did with prescription medications.

If kratom goes away, people in my community will fall victim to opiate overdose, imprisonment, and death. We need every tool available to us to keep people healthy and free of addiction. These are not the ramblings of string-out scofflaws; these are Americans trying desperately to stay alive, well, and productive. A ban on this plant will give a signal that unless the pharmaceutical companies can make money on American suffering, then it doesn’t matter. Please continue to protect Americans by refusing to support a ban on this life changing therapy.

Great point Mr. Tozzi, the DEA is again attempting to create more business for themselves by driving decent human beings into Street drug use, this corrupt and pointless agency needs to be dismantled. The attack on Kratom is ridiculously transparent and has no purpose other than to remove a safe Botanical from citizens in pain and force them on to dangerous pharmaceuticals, street drugs or to commit suicide. The US government is bought by Pharmaceutical companies and our nation’s citizens are owned by them. This is a hate crime against all trying to avoid poisoning themselves with pharmaceutical or street drugs. Kratom is in no way dangerous and there is not one case of someone dying under the influence of Kratom alone, only a couple of people in the entire US have died using other drugs along with Kratom. I sincerely hope this violent, greed inspired act against humanity is stopped.

Please allow scientific research to occur without intervention it not occur and most likely will end up as a schedule I just as marijuana regardless of any study afterwards. This extension of the war on drugs is an overreach and against the will of the majority in this country. The DEA is acting Draconian and against the will of the people.

Thank you for the letter. Kratom I feel it has had such a positive impact on my life, I have managed to stay off heroin for over 3 years thanks to the herb and a lot of therapy. To me Kratom had way less side effects than Suboxone or Methadone, without the risk of respiratory depression. It has truly been a life saver for me, as much as I hate to admit it is the best defense I have against returning to hard drug use.

Currently it is not feasible for every kratom user to switch to prescription opioid or replacement therapy, due to the many barriers and costs built into our healthcare. Plus conventional opioids and replacement therapy (buprenonorphine,methadone) have many side effects that can potentially make them less tolerable to the patient. The same can be said of prescription SSRI and benzodiazepines , many people find this herbal supplement preferable to these medications. This ban will cut a lifeline for many people, and could result in death if they resume illicit drug use after the ban. I know it is politically correct in this climate to be gung ho about combating opioid abuse, but this measure will only worsen the current heroin/fentanyl epidemic killing thousands of citizens. I beg as a president who promises to be smart on crime, please consider recommending the DEA does not follow through with this ban. This could be a matter of life or death for some patients. I agree it is disgusting that some conveinence stores/headshops are marketing this as a “legal high”, and I support a retail ban/age restrictions so teenagers do not have access to the herb. That is a far cry away from making Kratom a schedule 1 substance and turning thousands of law abiding citizens into felons over night. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or contact me at 908-229-1151. Thank you in advance for your time.

This is a personal issue for me. I watched one of best friends struggle with heroin addiction after he got prescription opioids. He went to rehab, and with the help of the plant is happy and well today. I truly believed kratom helped maintain him in a way that buprenorphine or methadone was not able too. I know you are not a pharmacist , but those medications have many more adverse effects and risk of respiratory depression then the plant kratom. Right now maitenence therapy is not very accessible for a lot of Americans , and people could die or relapse if they get cut off from the plant. Thousands of sick people will have to choose to break the law or go without something substantially improves their quietly of life.

Thank you for the letter. I’m 46 years old and have fibromyalgia, failed back syndrome from spinal fusion surgery, depression, anxiety, arthritis and bursitis. Automobile accidents caused the majority of my ailments. I have been in pain management, chiropractic, physical therapy and have had several injections and given several different prescription drugs including opiates. None of these things gave me significant relief, we’re costly, and the prescription drugs all gave me horrible side effects. I was looking for something natural that may help me and discovered kratom in a chronic pain support group. I did my research and decided to give kratom a try. I was and still am amazed at how much better I feel with kratom. I do not take any prescription drugs now and have not needed any additional injections since I started kratom. I have been taking kratom for over 2 years and I do not experience any negative side effects with kratom. Life without kratom will change dramatically and not for the better. Work, home and family will all suffer because I refuse to go back to prescription drugs. They’re simply not for me. They make me feel worse. There is absolutely no reason kratom should be placed as a schedule 1 drug! Frankly, I don’t know how the powers that be in the DEA can live with themselves taking away kratom from thousands of people who are helped by it. Why the rush to ban? This ban will hurt so many people and protect no one other than the pharmaceutical companies.

Thank you, Mr. Tozzi. I am a 52 year old that suffers from Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability (FQUAD). In 2011 I had a severe adverse reaction to the antibiotic Levaquin. As a result, I have a mitrochondria dysfunction that can not be reversed. II lost my professional career and the ability to enjoy my family because I require constant bed rest. I began using Kratom in 2014. Kratom allows me to have enough stamina to make it to family events like watching grandchildren play ball, dance recitals, birthday parties, etc. Without Kratom I will be confined to a life of constant bed rest.

Kratom has saved me of a life of pain. 18 years of a pain that i feel someone is stabling me over and over again A pain so intense that you feel like your dying slowly.3 years ago I found kratom and my life changed for the better. I am now able to work, cook, clean and care for my 4 beautiful children especially my 10 year old with type 1 diabetes. WHY WOULD YOU TAKE AWAY SOMETHING THAT IS HELPING ME LIVE A BETTER??????????????? I can not understand this. pEASE HELP, I do not want to go back to that life of pain and in the bed crying. PLEASE do not let this happen save MY LIFE.

Thank you Mr. Tozzi for helping those of us who feel as if we now have at least somwhat of a voice (instead of our voices falling on deaf ears). Let me say outright I am not a chronic pain patient. I have in the past suffered from debilitating sleep disorders, depression, and anxiety. My best friend who is actually now an attending physician himself first introduced me to Kratom about 5-6 years ago. Over the course of that time Kratom has given me my life back. And without my story becoming mundane, let me just say I’v used it for anywhere up too three months straight every single day, and upon abrupt cessation (I went “cold turkey” the first time out of my own curiousity so as to see what the “consequences” would be…knowing I had more anywhere). After 4 days of that, I would liken it very much to drinking coffee everyday and then suddenly stopping. Basically nothing really: objectively, a little fatigue maybe I suppose. Nothing anywhere remotely close to justifying a schedule 1 classification. It’s mind boggling. With the current state of the world (and our country domestically) the fact that this is what our hard earned tax dollars are funding is extremely disheartening. Futhermore, (im just going to say it) it reeks of Tyranny, ‘agenda setting’, and flat out corruption. This is morally wrong on so many levels. And im not somebody in physical pain either who needs it probably more than I even do. This is a violation of civil liberties, and personal freedom. Our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves. Thank you again Mr. Tozzi for “fighting the good fight”. Nobody’s life lasts forever in this form, on this earth. Thank you for simply doing the right thing….all we want from our government. To be just and fair. And to allow each of us to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without infringing on another’s rights. be well Mr. Tozzi.

Thank you for this. I am a 36 year old mother of 3, part time student, work full time, happily married and own my own home. I started taking Kratom 3 years ago when I got sick from taking too much Vicoden for my chronic back pain. I have Degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, herniated discs and sciatica. I have tried steroid injections, physical therapy, chiropractic care, harmful pharmaceuticals and several other things. Kratom is what has allowed me to become mobile again. I fear what will happen next month as I no longer am able to continue taking Kratom. Will I once again become debilitated with pain? Will I be able to continue working?

I am 33 and have broken my back twice, my neck once and had a 10,000lb steel table run over and crush my right foot resulting in 36 breaks. I was on Methadone, for 10 years as a result. I’m have been using Kratom for 36 days now and in that time I have not taken any medications including tylenol. I am 6’2″ tall and while on the medications I weighed in at 119lbs. I have gained back 30 lbs in 36 days. I Iook healthier and feel heathier not only physically but mentally. My wife and 2 daughters have told me that they have never seen this me before and they haven’t, they have only seen the me that was on pain meds. Kratom has saved my life, those medications were killing me from the inside. I feel like I did before I was injured so severely. I am myself again, I can be husband to my wife and a father to my kids again. We should not be punished for doing the absolute right thing for ourselves and our families. By making Kratom a schedule 1 the DEA is going to ruin lives and families. This will cause more deaths than they can can comprehend, because those that have gotten off the medications that were killing them by using Kratom will have nowhere else to turn but by taking steps backwards. Kratom is not a threat to anyone, it is saving lives and families.

I am a 58 year old woman, mother of three and grandmother of tyres with spondylolisthesis and scoliosis. I’ve been taking kratom twice daily for five years. Since discovering this wonderful herb, I can now go to the gym 5 days a week, including high intensity interval training, body pump, and cardiomuscle class. I own my own home with extensive gardens. My cholesterol and A1C have returned to normal and I have minimal pain. I have a full time job in a career I love. But now I am living in fear. Because I “stocked up” with my trusted online vendor the day I heard of the DEA action. In a us news article recently, DEA spokesman said “if you stock up, you will only.make it worse for yourself after Oct 1”. Seriously? They’re going to go through my credit card statements, bust into my house, turn it inside out, throw me in jail because I have a couple of pounds of plant material that I bought LEGALLY???!!! Is this what we’ve come to in the US?

I’m an ex pain clinic patient that quit pain killers, fell apart physically and mentally for 6 weeks, found kraton and at least was able to go back to work. I could probably qualify for disability but I’ve pressed on. But I’m not going to be able to without it. I’m not trying to go back to 5 doses of Vicodin a day, 8 tramadol, being a totally miserable “addict” , the pain had me at attempted suicide, the depression and anxiety are proportional. This plant is what saved my life. Much like many people. And we get 30 days to try to make decisions that are going to change (or end) the rest of my life? There’s no reason for a ban but if they have to play along with big pharmaceutical, you at least need to extend it to July. We can’t even get the doctors appointments scheduled in 30 days to figure out what’s next?! Nobody put any thought effort or research into this WHATSOEVER. What a joke. Extension, research, EDUCATED decision. You have so many resources. You have all of the resources. Give The East a call, they’ve been using it for millennia. That should supply all the info you need.

Hi There
I am encouraged in this frightening time.Hearing of all my fellow regular people,like myself that are surviving by God’s grace through the plant (not drug) I am an older family man with a wife and children and have been diagnosed with a litany of chronic pain issue surrounding my C-spine and middle back,I have had friends die that have taken the pharmaceutical drugs because,like me,they are do intensely physical work and after decades of hard work the body breaks down and needs help. They were prescribed meds and took them and at some point they were told told stop taking them they felt as though they could not and one ended up dead of Heroin,I believe If they knew about Kratom they would be productive members of society today,sadly instead they leave behind a wife and children with no daddy.Kratom would have kept them alive,contrary to the published info,no one has ever died from just Kratom,and overdose simply causes nausea,Im not making this up,I pray to the Lord Jesus Christ please have mercy on us all and keep the plant you made legal for multitudes that are suffering.I emplore the government of our fine country in the name of all humanity,I beg you please,please,at least grant and extension and do some research.My life as a family man and American citizen depends on it,and there are hundreds of thousands like me and millions that could potentially loses their lives if the unethical ban goes through,have mercy please Sirs I beg you. thank you very much for taking the time to hear my story and and stories of countless others like me God Bless You

Hi There
I am encouraged in this frightening time.Hearing of all my fellow regular people,like myself that are surviving by God’s grace through the plant (not drug) I am an older family man with a wife and children and have been diagnosed with a litany of chronic pain issue surrounding my C-spine and middle back,I have had friends die that have taken the pharmaceutical drugs because,like me,they are do intensely physical work and after decades of hard work the body breaks down and needs help. They were prescribed meds and took them and at some point they were told told stop taking them they felt as though they could not and one ended up dead of Heroin,I believe If they knew about Kratom they would be productive members of society today,sadly instead they leave behind a wife and children with no daddy.Kratom would have kept them alive,contrary to the published info,no one has ever died from just Kratom,and overdose simply causes nausea,Im not making this up,I pray to the Lord Jesus Christ please have mercy on us all and keep the plant you made legal for multitudes that are suffering.I emplore the government of our fine country in the name of all humanity,I beg you please,please,at least grant and extension and do some research.My life as a family man and American citizen depends on it,and there are hundreds of thousands like me and millions that could potentially loses their lives if the unethical ban goes through,have mercy please Sirs I beg you. thank you very much for taking the time to hear my story and and stories of countless others like me God Bless You

I am a 69year old lady that has allergies to so many drugs and food and it makes it hard for me to take medications. Have costochronditas, back pain from 4 back surgeries, thyroid problems, adrenal fatigue and many more things. If I take other pain pills I end up in bed with pain because of allergies!! I have 6 grandchildren and would like to be around for a few more years to watch them graduate!! Thank you for reading my post, and please don’t ban it!!

My body doesn’t tolerate pills and I had to just grit through my RSD symptoms until I found kratom. It is the only thing that helped me with the burning nerve pain and I’m terrified of losing it. I started taking kratom to help relieve my chronic pain. It helps me so much! I keep taking kratom because it also helps me deal with my depression, anxiety, insomnia, muscle spasms, arthritis, herniated disks and improvement to my overall health without making we feel “high” or putting me into a fog. On pharmaceuticals I was a zombie and had no quality of life, which caused me to lose hope and become suicidal. Kratom changed all that! My health both physically and mentally are so much better with kratom. And it’s non-toxic to my body and I don’t have to worry about my grand-kids getting into it and over-dosing on it. For one, it tastes nasty so they probably won’t want to eat it. Two, if they do manage to eat it they are going to puke. I believe that every health condition known to man has a treatment in nature. And for me that has been kratom. I have used it for the 2 1/2 years and my quality of life improved dramatically. I found relief along with my hope for a better future. Losing kratom will take the future away from me and my family and throw me back into the living hell I was trapped in before I found kratom. Kratom gave me back my life. Don’t let the swipe of a corrupt pen take away so much from so many. #KratomSavesLives

I have written letters in multiple .com sites, so if I have previously written, just consider this a second plea. This entire attempt an action to ban Kratom is all I can think about. The ban will transform a 66 years lived mom, grandmother, wife, friend and retired educator into a felon overnight. I’ve gone the journey of multiple physicians, psychologists, and the drugs prescribed for my conditions; FMS, spinal stenosis, degenerative arthiritis, depression and the complex connection of each condition to the other. After years of retreating into the safety within my walls, I took a chance on the herb Kratom. My experience after two years of use is that the herb has benefited me more than all other drugs and treatments combined. There is within this leaf, a stepping stone into a better life for those dealing with chronic fatigue, pain, depression, PTSD and addictions. It would be such a cruel act against people who want to improve their function as responsible adults to criminalize this ancient herb. There is no high. I am not addicted. I am me again. I am the story that thousands of Kratom users are sharing. Please here us. We are people from all walks of life whose lives will be deminished by this act of criminalizing a natural herb. I’ve been a good patient. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on health care, I’ve taken the opioids. I free of all medicated drugs, there were many through the years. Give us our freedom to choose life. Don’t put us back into our beds, detached and suffering. We need your help.

The proposal to schedule kratom alkaloids is an unconscionable act which will lead to much human misery. It will lead to death, suffering, and to the expansion of organized crime when it creates a new black market. Currently we have peer groups to vet vendors and it is working well. If it goes underground all transactions will be far less transparent, increasing the risks for consumers. Please do not rush into this decision. Kratom is very mild and safety has been established by long-term use over hundreds of years. There is no reason to rush to judgment.

Thank you for this. There is too much misinformation out there regarding this miraculous, pain relieving plant. It dramatically increased my quality of life. Nothing would help manage my pelvic pain from endometriosis. I had surgery and it still didn’t help. I tried pain pills and they still didn’t help. Kratom helped. I hope they don’t take it away from us. I have no other options (even a hysterectomy doesn’t always get rid of endometriosis as it can spread to other organs).

Thank you so much for your support. After my father committed suicide, and after two shoulder surgeries I found myself hooked on opiates. Kratom was the only substance that helped me wean off of the opoids. It is a miracle plant that has given me sobriety and has given my wife and kids their father back.
Please do not ban this plant, it is the only thing that makes me feel normal. I fear my death will be the result of this ban.

I didn’t ever think I would find a safe option to painkillers and anti anxiety medicine that. Kratom has allowed myself and many members of my family to break away from the addiction and danger that comes along with opiates. One of my family members was able to quit taking OXY because of this miracle plant. To ban Kratom is to take away something that has changed many lives for the better, including many in my family. Thank you for your support against this ban.

About a year ago I found myself in a very dangerous and unhealthy downward spiral with prescription pain meds I have very bad lower back pain due to arthritis after being sent to pain management I became dependant on pain meds.Meds that honestly never really helped with my pain they just helped me push thru like a zombie more or less.I already had been battling addiction for many with some success.My wife was ready to leave and couldn’t keep a job I had been able to stop all the other destructive behaviors but the pills had a firm hold on me .I was desperate for a change when I found kratom.I went straight from the pain meds to kratom with no negative effects.I quickly found that not only was my pain controlled much much better but I suffer no negative side effects at all .Also I found that my mind cleared up because there is no Buzz from the kratom,I just feel normal like before my pain started.Depression is also part of my story but now it is under control and life doesn’t effect me like it did with pain meds and before.I have also not had the desire to drink alcohol any longer (a life long problem for me).There are thousands out there who are much worse off then me that will have there entire lives turned upside down for no good reason.Kratom is safe I have given it to my dogs my parents it has completely changed my life and will certainly be devastated if I am no longer allowed to use it.Thank you for your time and effort in this matter

In addition to the fact that scheduling kratom is NOT an action that is not backed by science (science proves it is safer than many, many, other supplements and everyday products on the market), this country is supposed to be a democracy and actions that affect so many people should not be left in the hands of one agency without the input of the voters and congress. Enforcing the ban would be an extreme waste of tax dollars when a black market is inevitably created, and those tax dollars could be spent improving public schools, defending our country from terrorism, and tackling all of the other problems that truly affect Americans today.

I appreciate the dedicated efforts of Mr. Tozzi and the CRE in regards to this matter. This is so important to so many people. The question of whether or not the people truly do matter in regards to policy-making in our country is about to be effectively answered by the outcome of this situation. It is quite clear that those who want to see this plant remain legal are significant in number, authentic in belief, and resolute in spirit. We cannot fail in this fight, and we are grateful for the concern you have demonstrated thus far.Thank you!

I have used kratom to alleviate chronic joint pain. in this way I have been able to maintain my family and stay a productive member of society with no adverse side effects. The alternatives of percocet, vicodin or oxycodone are too extreme and have become a scourge on our youth. I hope this stays a plant that can be consumed freely.

I live in South Florida, ground zero for the pain pill epidemic. Kratom has been a godsend to a lot of people looking to transition from opiates. While I was unaware of Kratom during a time in my life when I struggled with drug dependence, it has been a welcome addition to deal with anxiety and general mood stabilization. Thank you to Mr. Tozzi and the CRE for taking this matter seriously and recommending a sensible approach in how this matter is handled.

Thank you Mr.Tozzi,
The DEA (i thought?) was supposed to enforce laws,NOT make them.They definitely know the science behind mitragyna speciosa (kratom) they KNOW it is a beneficial dietary supplement that helps a LOT of people,including veterans that have fought for our RIGHTS to use these natural herbs,plants,trees as adults.It is our choice.My life is much more productive than when I was on numerous medications that made me suicidal.I am a mother.I am a veterans daughter.I am not a criminal for using this TEA LEAF.I AM KRATOM.

Thank you for your request for due process in this matter. Opiate/opioid addiction and related death is at an all time high in the US and especially high here in Colorado. Kratom is a way out of this hell for hundreds of thousands of real people in our country who struggle with addiction,chronic pain,PTSD,anxiety and depression. Many ordinary people have been turned into addicts because of prescribed medications. This isn’t just about heroin addicts trying to get high. It’s about people who desperately want a chance to live their lives with some normalcy. That is a human right that should not be decided by our government.

Thank you for your request for due process in this matter. Opiate/opioid addiction and related death is at an all time high in the US and especially high here in Colorado. Kratom is a way out of this hell for hundreds of thousands of real people in our country who struggle with addiction,chronic pain,PTSD,anxiety and depression. Many ordinary people have been turned into addicts because of prescribed medications. This isn’t just about heroin addicts trying to get high. It’s about people who desperately want a chance to live their lives with some normalcy. That is a human right that should not be decided by our government.

Kratom has saved my wife from the world of pain that managed her. With 2 t of Kratom
Daily she manages the pain. She doesn’t spend days immobile and fearful that she must be dying. She is so much better and engaged in the lives of her family and loved ones. Thank you kratom, you saved our family.

Kratom has saved me lots of pain and agony. I researched it for 2 months before i tried it through a direct vendor. That night i first took it was the best rest i ever had. I was finally able to sleep without being in pain. I have fibromyalgia and it first started only when i layed down my whole body was in agony. The doctors gave me so many pills but none worked. I was desperate for relief and reached out to chronic pain groups when someone recommended kratom. I have been using it for almost 3 years now. I have never felt any kind of high or even any side effects. My pain just simply went away. I take it daily and i am devastated and i do not know what i will do with out. Please help us its only a plant. Thanks

Please, if you doubt the effectiveness of Kratom to help hardcore addicts to heal from their addictions with which I have up close and personal experience somebody just take a teaspoon of it and try, see how it affects you! Notice that it does not give you the experience that the DEA is saying it does
All they’re doing is creating a market for the drug lords to come in and make more money on illegal pharmaceutical sales! The plants of the earth belong to us they do not belong to our government, and Kratom has been used for thousands of years to help people heal from multitude of issue
Please listen to the people of the United States of America
My sister is staying with me and just has begun to remove all of the dangerous drugs she was using with the help of Kratom a teaspoon 3 times a day sometimes half a teaspoon, if Kratom is scheduled so that she cannot use it what will she do?? Go back to heroin? Go back to methamphetamines? Go back to Klonopin? Go back to Depakote which caused her to gain nearly 200 pounds? Please consider the good the service doing and weigh it against the from pharmaceutical addiction

I’m a US Army Veteran. I take kratom because of the many ailments that I have any by ptsd. I use to be on a gallon size back of medicine but thanks to kratom I’m no longer on all of these medications. I can go to work live on my own and take care of myself. If you taje this away i dint know what im going to do. I dont want to go back to my old life. Please dont take this plant from us. It will do more damage than you know.

I have been using Kratom to combat the muscular pain I endure daily due to epilepsy … Which also has caused me to have severe anxiety and Kratom even alieviates that! I despise the pharmaceuticals I have been written in the past, too many to name really… The side effects are so so bad and the medication themselves are extremely dangerous. Kratom gave me my life back and I’m no longer afraid to be in my home alone. Taking away this plant will definitely do much more ha than good. I just don’t understand. It’s really heartbreaking.

Everything I have worked for my entire adult life is being ripped away in 30 days. My kids, wife and I have no idea how we will even survive. I have paid millions in taxes, and I’m treated like a common drug dealer. I have to worry about DEA doing compliance checks, which could scar my children for life. While no kratom will be in my house after sept 29th, I still must fear the DEA with guns blazing. I have two teenage daughters. For GOD’s sake give us until July so my family won’t be torn apart over this abuse of power. I have to burn 300K worth of kratom, which is my entire mortgage payment due. We could end up homeless. I am completely broken and destroyed, and just wish I would die. This is a horrible law. Give us at least another 30 days so I can make back my investment. Otherwise we may end up on the street, no joke. All over a tea related to coffee. This law is RUINING lives. Never did I once advise about consumption, I broke NO LAWS, and still could be raided even though I have broken no laws. This isn’t American, it is an abuse of power. People will die by their own hand or by the substances they used kratom to get away from. My family hangs in the balance, and I went from successful entrepreneur to a broken sick man in 19 days. This law is killing us, literally. God have mercy on Rosenberg’s soul. Meanwhile I will be making decisions no tax paying entrepreneur should have to make all while being scared shitless the DEA will shoot my dogs and traumatize my children over kratom. People WILL commit suicide rather than to go back to whatever brought them to kratom in the first place. All we ask is an extension date. You can actually HELP people and families like mine or DESTROY them without so much as a tear being shed for our situation. Have some humanity, when people would rather be dead than this law to pass, you have to ask why so many are so passionate about kratom in the first place. It is a blessing, and the DEA is murdering a possible cure to the opiate epidemic. My children see their Father wasting away, cannatonic, and completely hopeless about the future. Ask yourself why DEA says there is no medical benefit when several patents have been granted for kratom alkaloids in the mid 20th century for MEDICAL REASONS. If this law passes, so will I.

I was diagnosed ADD/ADHD at the age of 13 and Major Depressive Disorder/Generalized Anxiety Disorder at 29. Kratom has helped me tremendously concerning them all (for almost 10 years!), and has given me a literal new lease on life. At one time, I considered suicide as a better option than what I was living in. That is hard to say or read, but that’s exactly how I felt and thought at the time. It felt like I was living in a literal Hell.

In the spring of 2010, I fell 30 ft. off of a roof onto a concrete walkway, and broke my back (transverse process), femur (titanium rod now), elbow (more metal), coccyx, ribs, as well as many internal injuries. I had multiple pulmonary embolisms and was in I.C.U. for two weeks. Twice, they thought “I wouldn’t make it”.

Once I arrived at the hospital, I was given Morphine to help with the initial pain. Then, Oxycodone during Physical Therapy. Then again, Hydrocodone when I had returned home. I was hooked (dependent) on those prescription medications without even knowing it. It wasn’t until I woke up soaking wet and feeling as if I had the Flu, did I realize I was going through extremely severe withdrawals from all of those prescription pain medications. After bouts of feeling comatose on medications (while not providing the pain relief I imagined it would), and being dependent on prescription pain pills, I researched into alternative pain management and somehow ran across a plant named “Kratom”.

That “Search” literally saved my life. In every sense of the word. Not only from the chronic pain from the fall, but I had also fallen into a deep (recurring) depression during my recovery and found that Kratom lifted the deep depression that I found myself in. It helped soothe the severe pain from my injury, as well as lifting my mood out of that spiraling depression. That was the moment I realized, how wonderful and sacred this plant truly is.

I consider Kratom to be an honest-to-God “Miracle Herb” and after I had that near death scare and the alleviation from both depression as well as anxiety, I felt that it was my life-calling to spread the Gospel of Kratom and what it’s done for me. If it wasn’t for that accident or my many hardships, I would have never attempted to do what I am now doing. So, I thank God and Kratom for everything that I now am. Every day of my life.

Here is a Google Drive link where I have compiled 24 peer-reviewed research studies, noting the safety and efficacy of this miraculous leaf:

I ask you and urge you to reconsider banning this plant. It is safe effective and exactly what’s needed at a time when the opioid epidemic is killing more and more each day. This is the answer. Available and attainable and affordable so those who need this help can readily get it. It treats so many conditions more effectively than the synthetic medications which themselves kill by the thousands each year. I appeal to you, to your good judgement, to see through the misinformation and all the misrepresentation that has been used to demonize this safe and gentle medicinal plant. By banning kratom the suffering will contribute suffering and so much more so because this plant has safely replaced over a dozed side effect riddled medications which barely made it to market because of their dangerous nature. By criminalizing it thousands of people will be jailed because they took their own better judgement and used a plant to treat their conditions in an effort to improve their health. Families will be torn and destroyed, the sick and suffering will be thrown to the wolves, and no good will come to offer any ready of hope to those suffering from deadly addictions such as heroin and cocaine and methamphetamines-the substances which do actually kill and destroy. Look at the people who take kratom. They take it to treat symptoms of someone’s chronic conditions which previously debilitated them. Look at how kratom helps them turn their lives around for the BETTER, for themselves and their loved ones. See how they have one thing in common-they have only improved their life and prospered because of kratom THAT’S what makes it different. That’s why it’s medicine. Please do NOT criminalize nor schedule this plant! Thank you!

Please do not ban Kratom. This plant helped save me from addiction to opiates given by my Doctor back in 2010 for Sciatica pain and back pain. Also, it helps my depression and keeps me off of SSRIs which make me a zombie like Effexor! I like my life right now and you will be doing a dis-service to all of us who’s lives are worth living now.

I wasn’t ever pain-free until I tried Kratom. I have had 4 brain surgeries for Chiari Malformation and other problems and have taken opiates to try to control the pain which did very little for the pain and I felt like my head was in the clouds. I’m hoping and praying that the DEA WILL NOT take away legal Krantom. It really does help a lot of people in chronic pain and SHOULD NOT be in a class with Heroin.

ATTN… they are trying to ban it national starting the 30th. It’s going to really hurt Alot of people. Kratom gave me my life back. I have a really messed up back and was hooked on pain meds Bc of it and was still in pain. Kratom made me able to be a mom again and start exercising and got of pain meds Altogether. Thousands of people have the same story as I do. Please go sign the petition and pass it on.

I am 36 years old, a mother, & a wife, & a small business owner. I also have endometriosis, herniated disks in my back, & hip dysplasia. My whole life all I ever wanted was to be a mother. Only 2 years ago I was practically bed ridden & was told by several doctors I should start preparing for back surgery. I had to take my new baby to doctor’s office after doctor’s office and he watched as I was prescribed pill after pill. 11 medications in total including several narcotics specifically 100 percocets a month.This was no life. And I was not the mother I wanted to be. I was in pain but in so much of a fog that I just wanted to sleep. I was riddled with guilt every single time I opened a pill bottle and my son had to watch while mommy took her medicine. I was hopeless, depressed, and fighting anxiety because I felt so stuck. Don’t worry they gave me a pill for that too. I stumbled upon kratom after trying to find an alternative to the harmful medications I was taking. I was interested because it is 100% natural & had been around for centuries with no reported deaths or overdoses and no real side effects. Especially in comparison to the chemical cocktail I got filled at the pharmacy every month. I felt like I found a miracle. And it truly is a miracle that this plant just grows on the earth and can & has helped so many people. Now my life is mine again. Mine and my son’s, & my family’s. I was able to begin taking yoga classes and started seeing a chiropractor. No surgery. No pills. I haven’t taken so much as a Tylenol in over a year. I can play with my little boy and make plans for the future because we are all healthy now. When I think that I might have to go back to that life on the couch riddled with pills and hopelessness it is too much to bare. Please do not make kratom a schedule 1 drug. Please just learn the truth about what it is and what it is not. It is not an opiate. It is not a dangerous chemical. It is a plant. A natural miracle. And we kratom users are not addicts. We are mothers and fathers. Husbands and wives. We are teachers and nurses and small business owners who don’t wish to be heavily medicated by the prescription drugs that are poisoning our country. Please make your decision based on facts and science not media hype and misinformation. Thank you very much for your time.

The DEA recently placed kratom, a medicinal plant used for millennia in Southeast Asia, on the list of Schedule I drugs, effective September 30. Without a serious scientific investigation the DEA intends to subject anyone caught with any quantity of kratom to long prison sentences, while effectively halting scientific investigation into kratom’s medicinal benefits, and making it impossible to enact sensible legal regulations for kratom.

Many people struggling with opioid addiction have turned to kratom as a safer alternative, but now all promising scientific studies on kratom’s role in opioid treatment could be immediately shut down.

My name is Kelly, I am 48 year old high school teacher from New Lenox. I have a husband and 7 kids. I am your constituent.

I ASK THAT YOU PLEASE SIGN THE POCAN/SALMON “DEAR COLLEAGUE LETTER” TODAY. The letter asks, among other things, that the Director of OMB and Acting Director of the DEA delay a final decision on the placement of Kratom as a schedule I, provide ample time for public comment on this significant decision, and resolve any inconsistencies with other Federal Agencies regarding the use of Kratom.
The letter asks, among other things, that the Director of OMB and Acting Director of the DEA delay a final decision on the placement of Kratom as a schedule I, provide ample time for public comment on this significant decision, and resolve any inconsistencies with other Federal Agencies regarding the use of Kratom.

I’d like to voice my opposition to the DEA’s Intent to Schedule the alkaloids Mitragynine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine, which would make Kratom (Mitragynaspeciosa), a schedule 1 controlled substance with no medicinal value. This would put kratom, a plant helping millions of people suffering chronic and acute mental and physical conditions that is also safely easing the nation’s opiate epidemic problem naturally, on the same level as illegal drugs like heroin. It would also prevent further research which, to date, has shown kratom to be an effective painkiller that does not cause respiratory depression; the main cause of death from opiate overdose.

I came to use kratom after suffering from 7 kidney stones in 3 years. I suffered from many autoimmunes since I was a young teenager such as sarcoidosis, fibromyalgia, migraines, ibs, asthma, excess, celiac’s disease, and also I suffer from anxiety and depression. I have been prescribed Xanax, lexapro, prednisone, norco, Vicodin. I started to not like being on all this medication. My stomach would hurt and I didn’t feel like myself. I googled NATURAL pain relief and found kratom in 2013. Kratom brought me pain relief and in the last three years, I was able to go back to work and function as a healthy member of society. I can walk my dog, play with my kids and I feel good again. Kratom is a leaf from a tree and is a NATURAL way to treat pain. It should be available as an alternative to prescription medications. The prescription medications did not work for me. It is my right to be able to treat myself NATURALLY and not be forced to take pharmaceuticals that do not make me feel better.

Kratom is a safe alternative to pharmaceutical drugs with important medicinal uses and has changed my life. I’m asking you to please contact the DEA. Please send a letter or request an oversight hearing asking to delay this emergency action. I fear this action by the DEA will only lead to more tragic deaths of victims of the opiate epidemic, maybe even my own. I know that my own quality of life as a productive member of society will not be the same without kratom.

I have been in chronic pain struggling with fibromyalgia for almost a decade. All of this time I have been prescribed Percocet to manage my pain. I was thrilled when I discovered kratom not that long ago. I had finally found a solution to pain management that was not only more effective then Percocet but did not impair my functioning or cause drowsiness or any of the other terrible side effects of narcotic pain medications. I was so shocked to hear about the ban. I cannot imagine how something so benign could be illegal when something that causes so many deaths and addictions is not. For many of us struggling with pain everyday we feel like we have to choose between the impairment and side effects that come along with these powerful pain medications or being in terrible pain everyday. It really is an awful choice. Kratom is the solution! I truly believe that Kratom could revolutionize the field of pain medicine and substance abuse treatment. It is so mild, kind of like coffee but yet it is so effective at relieving pain and it eliminates any cravings for narcotic pain medication. Kratom could save so many lives. When I started taking kratom my husband notice how I seemed like a different and better person with less pain more energy and more mental clarity. My mother literally cried with joy because I finally found an answer in Kratom and because now I could stop taking my pills everyday. Anyway, now that it is about to become illegal I will have no choice but to continue taking Percocet – perhaps for the rest of my life. This ban seems so illogical that I can’t help but wonder if it is motivated by pharmaceutical industry lobbyists.

I recently discovered kratom due to my interest in herbal remedies. Years ago, my body was destroyed due to a workman comp injury with medications, 4 sheets in about a 2 month time! I was getting addicted due the need and the fact PT was not being approved, that’s all I really wanted. By the time it arrived, I was lost in a fog. PT helped me come alive again and put my divine path in a different direction. I became a Reiki Master and herbs became my way of life, 8 years now. Kratom has helped with my hip pain, arthritis…yes, I did the injection–some success but not what I expected. I am doing PT, PT at home exercises, all the right things. I ask you to reconsider this action. Also, my son was diagnosed with Bipolar type I, OCD, ODD and ADHD. He’s had a rough road through medications; psychotropics; anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and any other assorted type the “Doctor” thought he needed. Between the ages of 8-11 he had 6 hospitalizations! He lost his childhood due to this “Doctor”…he’s lost cognitive functions, has short term memory loss. He made the decision to remain on Abilify. When he saw my progress with the Kratom, he asked if there was a type he could take to help him with his depression. I asked, and yes, white Agatha was suggested. I haven’t tried the Whites…I lean towards the Greens and Reds for pain. Never tried the yellow. Anyhow, he’s been taking it now for a month, he’s coming out of the fog. Behavior has been more rational…consistent. I would rather see his clear eyes, his soul than to watch him in the darkness as we call it. You take it away, the darkness may over power him and he’ll lose the battle. Thank you for your time and attention!!!

Kratom helped me through a variety of health issue’s. My doctor prescribed klonopin, and Ambien for sleep, I’d been taking both for I’ve 10 years when my doctor suddenly stopped prescribing and I was forced into cold turkey with protracted withdrawal. I suffered beyond what anyone should and the medical professionals were no where to help or they deny Benzodiapines give extended withdrawal, for me 3 year’s for most symptoms but left with seizures for another 2 years and more. If it were not for Kratom I’d probably still be home bound with agraphobia, one of the lasting issues when ripped off these highly addictive and dangerous drug’s.

The so called war on drug’s is a lie. It is a war on people. I think getting rid of DEA and FDA would save countless amounts of lives and I believe this should be our focus to start.

my sister has come to live with me and Kratom is the only option she has, she has stop using Depakote which caused her enormous weight getting over a hundred pounds, she is has been dependent upon her entire life, she is 60 years old.
.She is also reducing and removing other mood stabilizers
Oxycodone, heroin, methamphetamines have been removed from her life all because of Kratom.
Many of these drugs she has has been dependent upon her entire life, she is 60 years old.

Kratom is helping her avoid the anxiety and the depression that has Caused her to resort to practically every street drug you can think because the DEA has stopped her access to the pain meds she required.

She has done a complete turnaround because of Kratom I beg the White House and the DEA as well as the Department of Health and the EPA to consider the ramifications of removing a god-given plant which belongs to the people not the government and which has never been proven to be harmful in 3000 years or more of use by various cultures.
As long as you allow the Dangerous Drug alcohol which causes death dismemberment spousal abuse child molestation and numerous other problems as well as direct health issues how can you possibly remove our right to a benign Plant related to the coffee plant

Hi My name is Robin . And my ex husband broke my bones shattered actually the doctor gave me oxy and Fentanal for the pain that I’ve lived with for 26 years and I never was told it was addicting well it was . I am a teacher a mother a grandma and Kratom saved my life I have not had no pills no patches 2 years I wore a brace on my leg as my knee had been shattered by a baseball bat I no longer wear that brace I am begging u I need Kratom to live this incredible life I know have I feel incredible

Good grief. I just wrote a long testimonial and my Internet went out. So here goes again. Born with scoliosis. It damaged my spine in ways that couldn’t be surgically fixed, so after a decade of unbearable pain, I was put on opioids by my MD. After over 13 years on pain meds, I developed opioid induced hyperalgia meaning they caused the pain to be worse rather than alleviating it. I slowly weaned off opioid meds over several months. MD’s will either quit rx’ing them or do a very rapid taper which is NOT the proper way to taper off. I told my doc I was quitting them, and went cold turkey after slowly weaning down. I was in my mid 50s. It was excruciating and debilitating. I was so weak and in so much pain after withdrawals had passed that I was bed or couch bound. A couple of years earlier, I had researched Kratom though not much info was online at the time. I spent a great deal of time researching it, and drew the conclusion that the only people who had problems with it would abuse milk if it would get them high. BTW, Kratom has NEVER given me a high. Anyway, I ordered some and started taking only the dried plant leaf. It was amazing! It worked so well I was able to regain my strength and appetite. I flourished for the first time in 20 years without med side effects. It did nothing but eradicate my pain, and left me feeling normal with enhanced focus. I added a few more herbs for inflammation and was managing severe pain with plants. My husband who had become dismissive and disgusted with me, fell back in love with the REAL me. Not a drugged up lump on the couch or wracked with pain as I had been before. I felt all the little joys of life again. Simple things brought such joy. These were things pain meds stole from me. Then came the sensational stories on Kratom. I carefully researched each story, and any problem related to Kratom was actually nil, but rather heroin, etc that they were also taking. A few irresponsible drug seekers were looking to enhance their drug experience with Kratom, but Kratom was not the problem. I am angry, but doing great on my Kratom with no side effects and no pharmaceuticals. Then my state buys into the sensationalism and irresponsible Kratom stories and bans it. Now I am back to being worthless. I just exist. Please don’t let them take this healing herb away from everyone. Pain prescribing guidelines have tightened and I fear a Kratom ban will lead to more illegal drug use from heroin, etc, causing overdoses and even suicide from those who want no more of big pharma and seek to end the pain by suicide. I am wondering if the remainder of my life is even worth it. I will beg on the floor of Congress if need be, so please reconsider. We all know the “drug war” has failed miserably. If I can be of help, feel free to contact me by email. I thank you for listening.

Addendum: Due to my state’s ban on Kratom’s main alkaloids, I was forced to quit. Being without coffee is worse than stopping Kratom. In fact, discontinuing Kratom was only mildly annoying for about 3 days. I also wanted to thank Mr Tozzi from the bottom of my heart. As well, I want to thank President Obama and staff for your urgent consideration for keeping this herbal remedy legal. Love and light!

when are you people going to learn that the Obama administration is anti-we-the-people! Obama recently spent 1.1 billion on addiction treatment — do you think he will back track on a herbal that can cure addiction without treatment centers?

If Kratom becomes illegal, it will be a death sentence for tens of thousands of people in this country. It will be a welfare and disability sentence for hundreds of thousands of people, possibly even a million people who rely on Kratom to go to work every day. It will cost taxpayers billions in the long run, head shops will find another legal high to sell that will be more dangerous, and families all over the country will suffer. American citizens have suffered enough because of terrible government policy, don’t pile on more. South America is looking more appealing by the day.

Really? The DEA trying to ban this coffe like plant? Lol! When I read it, I couldn’t believe it. First of all Kratom doesn’t work for everyone, I mean not like for pain. It might work for some people but for others like me, it’s not going to replace a pain pill that has Tylenol in any way shape or form, besides insurance doesn’t pay for it so it’s an out of pocket expense. So no, kratom is not for everyone , I tried different dosages, different strains and it does not have the same effect as a pain pill. What really worries me is the fact the DEA will ban anything and everything that is not FDA approved and they hear helps people, but Kratom? I find this funny because yo me it’s more like an energy type booster hern/supplement. If there are cases of death as they say it’s probably from people mixing the plant with drugs or alcohol.